Halo 2 Forum
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  • Subject: eeek
Subject: eeek
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haha. i think your right. millions of halo fans are scouring every possible resource to try to get some more info out of this. the post about the ERSB is correct. maybe they are going to release early. think ill just sit back and enjoy the ride. im sure that bungie/m$ will have another suprise for us in the days/weeks to come.

  • 07.25.2004 1:09 AM PDT
Subject: Might have been said.
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The ESRB thing stated that they also do a rating on the most graphic content. If Bungie knows what that is, then they could have sent it already, and not have to have finised and packaged. M could just be what is anticipated, or what has been given at the moment.

Our Lord, Shishka, gave us this in another thread:

Halo 2 is not coming out in August. Get a grip. Nobody would make an obscure reference to a riddle-laden website in order to announce something as big as the sequel to a game that sold FOUR MILLION COPIES is going to be out more than a month ahead of its scheduled release date. Don't be silly.

End of story.

Let's focus on gameplay effects this may have, or possible things OTHER than a demo or a full release of Halo 2.

[Edited on 7/25/2004 1:12:36 AM]

  • 07.25.2004 1:10 AM PDT
Subject: eeek
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/sigh. You people are no fun. Do some real speculation.







[Edited on 7/25/2004 1:11:08 AM]

  • 07.25.2004 1:10 AM PDT
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Guys I bet this countdown will lead to a trailer. A really good trailer that is not nessacarily for the theatres or is a commercial. It is a trailer that will reveal some secrets and tease at the same time

  • 07.25.2004 1:10 AM PDT
Subject: My theory, Possible Non-Linear Gameplay
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Guys, convince me. I don't buy the whole ESRB thing. Where are you getting this info?

  • 07.25.2004 1:11 AM PDT
Subject: eeek
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  • Exalted Mythic Member

The Frozen Minority - The most infamous clan borne from the Seventh Column.

Posted by: Zuka Zumamee
i feel like bungie has the world in their hands right now!

they do and they can crush us all without even thinking

  • 07.25.2004 1:11 AM PDT
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yya nice way on changing the U to a ME killyourtv u -blam!- -blam!-.

  • 07.25.2004 1:12 AM PDT
Subject: My theory, Possible Non-Linear Gameplay
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Posted by: BadKlown
Ok - I didn't want to sift through 206 or so pages, I've kept up with the post till like 120 because that's when I left today. Just got home, and I felt I should share this.


Hey everyone....

Check this out: http://www.fact-index.com/e/en/entertainment_software_rating_ board.html

(Lazy Link it if you can, I don't know how on this forum)
Excerpt..

Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for video games in the United States. It was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association. By early 2003, it had rated more than 8,000 titles submitted by 350 publishers. The ESRB may promote media restriction.




Content Descriptors
The content descriptors appear on the back of the game box as well as in print ads and game web sites. The ESRB has over twenty content descriptors, such as Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore and Nudity. All of their descriptors are listed on their web site.

The Process
To obtain a rating, a publisher sends the ESRB actual footage of their game's most graphic and extreme content. They also fill out a detailed questionnaire describing the game's content. Three trained raters, working independently, then watch the footage and recommend a rating. If all raters agree on their rating, content descriptors are added and the ESRB notifies the publisher of its decision.


***** NOTE THIS*****
When the game is ready for release, the publisher sends copies of the final version of the game to the ESRB. The game packaging is reviewed, and ESRB's in-house experts play the game to ensure that all the information provided during the rating process was complete and accurate.
*****IMPORTANT*****

The identities of the ESRB raters are kept confidential. Raters cannot have any ties to the computer or video game industry.




-------------------------------------

The ESRB rated Halo 2 'M', therefore according to their rules above the game is ready for release, since they have sent the final copy of the game AND packaging.

--So if you still don't believe, I don't know what else will convince you now.


It just said they can give a rating before it is released, read it again. They give it a rating...THEN when it is ready for release, they take it and check to see that the ratings ar on the packages right.

  • 07.25.2004 1:13 AM PDT
Subject: eeek
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I personnally think the most likely scenario is that this countdown is to a major trailer.

  • 07.25.2004 1:13 AM PDT
Subject: My theory, Possible Non-Linear Gameplay
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Posted by: Halogoblin
Guys, convince me. I don't buy the whole ESRB thing. Where are you getting this info?



I found the info on a site while searching google for ESRB rules on rating video games. I wanted to see what their rule was before actually giving a certain rating since Halo 2 was already rated.

--I really don't think they'll release a new trailer, maybe not the game, but it's not going to be anything small..unless they want to build up a HUGE amount of hype like this and just let us down, that would be horrible marketing, and I would consider doing something like transferring my Halo 2 payment over to Fable..

  • 07.25.2004 1:14 AM PDT
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sorry double post.

--Honestly if Bungie isn't going to do something big on the 24th of August I'll think less of the company for doing something like this to us. And you know they are behind it because they would crush a rumor this big if it wasn't true. They would not just sit back and watch.. If something doesn't happen worth happening on the 24th I'll be transferring my money back over to my Fable preorder..

[Edited on 7/25/2004 1:17:18 AM]

  • 07.25.2004 1:16 AM PDT
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All of this info is found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Apiary

The Haunted Apiary is an Alternate Reality Game (ARG), related in some way to the first person shooter Halo 2. Although a lot is not yet known at this time (as is the nature of such events), it is believed to be the work of Microsoft and Bungie (the makers of Halo), as the release date for Halo 2 nears.

The first reports of the game began around July 16, 2004, when some members of the ARG community received jars of honey in the mail, in which the letters spelling out "ilovebees" were immersed. [1] (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4619)

At around the same time, an advert for Halo 2 [2] (http://files.bungie.org/halo2_teaser-trailer.mov) shown at screenings of I, Robot (mostly at Loews Cineplex theatres) flashed a link to ilovebees.com, which is ostensibly a site related to beekeeping.

The site, however, was covered in content that did not pertain to bees at all, but was instead some form of gobbledy-blam!-. This link quickly spread amongst Halo fansites and ARG sites.

Shortly after the site was "attacked," The webmaster created a weblog [3] (http://ilovebees.blogspot.com/) stating that something had gone wrong, and the site itself was attacked. Later entries state that her attempts to fix it were in vain. The last update was made on July 23, 2004.

Upon loading the said site, a Javascript-based textfield opens over the site content, in which is says the following as of July 24, 2004:

HALT - MODULE CORE HEMORRHAGE
Control has been yielded to the
SYSTEM PERIL DISTRIBUTED REFLEX.
This medium is classified, and has a
STRONG INTRUSIVE INCLINATION.
In 3 days, network throttling will erode.
In 17 days this medium will metastasize.
COUNTDOWN TO WIDE AWAKE AND PHYSICAL:
Make your decisions accordingly.
It uses a Javascript file named countdowntochina.js and/or regulated site updates to count down the days until July 27, at which time the "network throttle will erode," and then again to August 10, when "the medium will metastasize." Although it is unclear what will happen on July 27, TeamXbox patrons believe it may be related to new audio or video content, and on August 10, the game may spread out to other sites. Nobody knows what the counter is counting down to, but it is believed to be something pertinent to Halo 2. It should also be noted July 27 is the beginning of Meltdown, Microsoft's yearly forum/conference on game development and its relations to DirectX, XNA, Windows, and Visual Studio.

A Slashdot patron pointed out in a post that the site was running off a minimum of nine IP addresses [4] (http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=115519&cid=978 3204). However this observation is incorrect. The Slashdot poster pointed out that ilovebees.net is running off a minimum of eight IP addresses. However ilovebees.net (http://www.ilovebees.net/) is merely a placeholder page. Interestingly enough, the whois report for both ilovebees.com[5] (http://betterwhois.com/bwhois.cgi?domain=ilovebees.com&x =0&y=0) and ilovebees.net[6] (http://betterwhois.com/bwhois.cgi?domain=ilovebees.net&x =0&y=0) shows that it was registered by the same person. A Netcraft query for ilovebees.com[7] (http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=ilovebees.com&p robe=1) shows that the site is hosted on a Windows 2000 apache server and that it is hosted by Rackspace (http://www.rackspace.com/).

The images on the site seem to have written text in the image binary, causing the images to appear corrupted. As of July 24, all of the images and their written text have been transcribed by the ARG community [8] (http://bees.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Corrupted_Imag e_Text).

The text split apart and placed in <DIV> tags has also been logged, and put together as several pages, categorized as either Mayday Text (http://bees.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mayday_Text) or Computer Text (http://bees.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Computer_Text) , in relation for the deeper meaning it alludes to.

It is believed by many in the Halo and ARG communities that this is a publicity stunt by Bungie, to build up hype for Halo 2, in a manner similar to the game The Beast which surrounded the movie A.I.. Indeed, as Microsoft were behind that first game, there has been speculation that Apiary is a sort of sequel.

Bungie have previously done something similar: the Cortana Letters seen on the Marathon Story Page [9] (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/cortana.html). However, the precise relation between the ilovebees site and the Halo story has yet to be discovered. There have even been connections in relation to Marathon [10]

  • 07.25.2004 1:16 AM PDT
Subject: EASTER EGG in HALO 2 Theatrical Trailer?!
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Posted by: lust x
ok, so it doesn't mention anything to do with the Halo 2 trailer, but the REAL website is located here:

www.theantfarm.net

enjoy! lust


I just emailed them maybe they will shine some light on this but i doubt it. Maybe they were just told to do it. But it cant hurt by emailing them and asking.

  • 07.25.2004 1:16 AM PDT
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Here's an email message sent back to people who emailed the lady at first.
-----------
keep me
odd behavior cry for help
I'm using it to make some of the messages have ever put together some of the messages
Just wanted to say that I'm not odd behavior but I danger of voodoo witch that runs smear into the web the forte the web the forte including the any enemies
I am sorry
Just wanted to say
Just wanted to say
Just wanted to say
Just wanted to say
I'm not much of an expert
But I wanted
I wanted to find out more about ordering
some of the messages
the forte
I can see the forte
problem quite interesting
No idea who I'm part of
have any enemies
voodoo witch voodoo parents
voodoo witch that runs into the web
voodoo parents wanted to cover all my
together a home the forte of voodoo parents of mine
voodoo parents keep me
I wanted to find out more
I wanted to find out if there's anything I can do
problem quite interesting
time of need
I wanted to say that I'm using it some of the messages be some kind of cry for help
and if there's warning voodoo parents of cry for help
voodoo parents wanted to cover all my odd behavior into the web
and if you check it might be some kind of seductive danger of get many people angry,
…but I wanted to find all these people willing to help very nice
problem quite interesting
Love,
-----------
also, the pictures have a story in them or so its said on the forums at unfiction. Check it out on my earlier post, page 205.

  • 07.25.2004 1:18 AM PDT
Subject: My theory, Possible Non-Linear Gameplay
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Posted by: BadKlown
Posted by: Halogoblin
Guys, convince me. I don't buy the whole ESRB thing. Where are you getting this info?



I found the info on a site while searching google for ESRB rules on rating video games. I wanted to see what their rule was before actually giving a certain rating since Halo 2 was already rated.

--I really don't think they'll release a new trailer, maybe not the game, but it's not going to be anything small..unless they want to build up a HUGE amount of hype like this and just let us down, that would be horrible marketing, and I would consider doing something like transferring my Halo 2 payment over to Fable..

So just because they put u on a wild goose chase you wont want halo that much anymore. That is a dumb reason to switch payments. But based on what I've seen fable is going to be realeased in september so start saving up.

  • 07.25.2004 1:18 AM PDT
Subject: eeek
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I don't know if this has already been said, there are far to many posts to read. I could be wrong, but i think that some people are reading far to much into the significance of the countdown. The fact that In 16 days this medium will metastasize. may just refer to the fact that another similar piece of marketing will occur, on newly created websites, spreading this "virus" through the web and giving us some more snippets of information.

[Edited on 7/25/2004 1:20:31 AM]

  • 07.25.2004 1:19 AM PDT
Subject: ***
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Well congrats that all of you got the thread this far, and by looking at most of the member registration dates u can see how this little website sparked a rather significant rise in the bungie community; the start of an advertising campaign.

  • 07.25.2004 1:19 AM PDT
Subject: My theory, Possible Non-Linear Gameplay
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HALT - MODULE CORE HEMORRHAGE

SYSTEM PERIL DISTRIBUTED REFLEX.

STRONG INTRUSIVE INCLINATION

These are hidden acronyms. Try to figure out what some of them mean.

H - MCH

SPDR

SII

My prediction: SPDR stands for Single Player Demo Release, which will be August 24th.

What do H - MCH and SII stand for?

  • 07.25.2004 1:21 AM PDT
Subject: ***
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G'night all, I'm outa here. Good Luck. See ya tomorow.

  • 07.25.2004 1:22 AM PDT
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God I hope it is a demo.

  • 07.25.2004 1:23 AM PDT
Subject: My theory, Possible Non-Linear Gameplay
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I suppose u can wait, we've gone over this hundreds of times and if you havent gotten it by now u might wanna check another site

  • 07.25.2004 1:23 AM PDT
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Itz only 2 dayz away...

  • 07.25.2004 1:24 AM PDT
Subject: hmmm
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u know i'm not goin ape and i'm not creeped nemore. i'm just insanely interested.
if on august 24 bungie takes over the world then i'll apply for a job at bungie and if the covenant attack earth then maybe they'll take me in, do massive surgery on me and make me an Elitelol that'd be cool lol.

  • 07.25.2004 1:24 AM PDT
Subject: hey
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how do we know this isn't all just some big practical joke like the crop signs?

  • 07.25.2004 1:25 AM PDT
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Isn't it bedtime everywhere....LMAO. I'll go to sleep now. zzzz

  • 07.25.2004 1:26 AM PDT