Within Hubris
"A Distance There Is", the forum's original banner, by Garrenn
| Site name | Within Hubris |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Forum and information archive |
| Status | Deactivated (partially archived) |
| Launched | February 17, 2011 |
| Removed | August 8, 2012 |
| Affiliation | Players |
"This is a general forum designed to have every tool, every text, and every cipher available at the player's fingertips. This forum is not meant to replace any existing forum, but rather, its purpose is to serve as a central hub for you, the player. From here, you will be able to access everything related to the story - from a specific video to a certain Wikipedia article - in one convenient and organized location."—Guide
Within Hubris was an Internet forum serving as the official hub for players to gather and theorize during the later part of the Moon Children Arc. It was operated by Guide, a mysterious administrator account.
Contents
Site-wide details
The forum's theme remained the same for its entire run. It featured a black forum body over diagonally-striped gray background. The banner, depicting the moon over the horizon, was titled, "A Distance There Is," and was created by Garrenn, one of the site's moderators. The forum title read "within hubris" in lowercase; when viewing a forum group or subforum, these were listed as well. Below the title was a section that read, "Within Hubris latest news:", which contained the latest post from the Announcements and Story forum groups. Below it was a message that read, "Welcome back; your last visit was on (Month Day Year, Time AM/PM)".
For an undetermined amount of time after its discovery, the song "Within Hubris" was set to play on the site, with its player featured under the forum title. A PayPal button linked to Alex Hall's account was featured under the banner from February 26, 2011 until February 17, 2012.
Main page
February 17, 2011
This iteration of the site was discovered at 7:00pm. These details remained unchanged. Forum groups and subforums:
- Announcements
- Announcements
- Forum Help
- Story
- General Discussion
- Theory Discussion
- Story Speculation
- New Developments
- Community
- Newbie/Help Center
- Community General
- Videogame General
- Fan Created Content
- Recruitment
In addition to the above, the Board Statistics section at the bottom featured an active user list, the current day's birthdays, the total number of posts, the total number of registered members, the newest member, and the most users ever online.
Soon after the site's discovery, two new forum groups, each with one subforum, replaced the Announcements group. The first appeared at 7:30, with the second appearing at 7:40. They each disappeared about 20 seconds afterward.
The first:
- HELP ME
- PLEASE GOD HELP ME
The second:
- MY EYES
- THEY TOOK
Neither of the subforums contained posts. The Announcements group was restored afterward.
February 18, 2011
At an unknown time, a new forum group was discovered, this time below the Community group.
The group and its subforum:
- Wayward Horizon
- ???
Unlike the other subforums, Wayward Horizon's were password protected, rendering the topic titles unviewable from the main page. Upon its discovery, the ??? subforum contained a topic created by Hubris, which was deleted soon afterward. The next topics to appear were created by Guide, Nekko, Duskworld23, and ???, respectively.
Forum groups
In total, there were six forum groups discovered on Within Hubris. Upon the forum's discovery, the three groups present were Announcements, Story, and Community. These contained no true "in-character" interactions and served as tools for the community. As a result, the latter three forum groups are listed first.
HELP ME
Only visible for 20 seconds, this section contained only one subforum, titled "PLEASE GOD HELP ME". It contained no posts.
MY EYES
Only visible for 20 seconds, this section contained only one subforum, titled "THEY TOOK". It contained no posts.
Wayward Horizon
This section of the forum appeared on February 18 and contained only one subforum, titled "???". It wasn't accessed until February 19 due to its password protection. The password screen read, "Please do not attempt to enter a password unless you are authorised. Failed attempts are logged and you may have your posting rights removed upon repetitive failure." However, it was soon discovered that this was not true, and failed attempts are simply logged.
After piecing together the password, "thelensoftruth", via Guide's welcome post and the cipher on Rosa's account page, the remaining contents of Wayward Horizon's ??? subforum were finally discovered. Inside were five topics, each containing a single post:
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 18 2011, 12:17 PM 0101011100000111000001101111011100110110010101100100001000000111010001101111001000000110001001100101 001000000110100001100101011100100110010100101110 010001110110010101110100001011100000110100001010000011010000101001001111011101010111010000101110 Note: This translates to:
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Nekko |
Posted: Feb 18 2011, 12:42 PM 0101011101000110100001101001011100110011111100100000011010000110010101101100011100000010000001101101 0110010100100000011100000110110001100101011000010111001101100101001011000010000001101001001001110110 1101001000000111001101101111001000000111001101100011011000010111001001100101011001000010111000100000 0111011101101000011001010111001001100101001000000110100101110011001000000110010101110110011001010111 0010011110010110111101101110011001010011111100100000011010010010011101101101001000000111001101101111 0010000001101100011011110110111001100101011011000111100100101110001011100010111000100000011011010110 1111011011010110110101111001001000000110100101101101001000000111001101101111001000000111001101101111 0111001001110010011110010010111000100000011010010010000001110000011100100110111101101101011010010111 0011011001010010000001101001001001110110110001101100001000000110001001100101001000000110000100100000 0110001001100101011101000111010001100101011100100010000001110011011011110110111000101100001000000110 1001001000000111000001110010011011110110110101101001011100110110010100100000011010010010011101101100 0110110000100000011000100110010100100000011101000110100001100101001000000110110001101001011101000111 0100011011000110010100100000011000100110111101111001001000000111100101101111011101010010011101110110 0110010100100000011000010110110001110111011000010111100101110011001000000111011101100001011011100111 0100011001010110010000101100001000000110100100100000011011010110100101110011011100110010000001111001 0110111101110101001000000110100100100111011011010010000001110011011011110010000001110011011000110110 0001011100100110010101100100001011100010111000101110001000000110110101101111011011010110110101111001 0010000001101010011101010111001101110100001000000111000001101100011001010110000101110011011001010010 0000011101110110000101101011011001010010000001101101011001010010000001110101011100000010111000100000 0010000001110000011011000110010101100001011100110110010100100000010100000100110001000101010000010101 0011010001010010000001001101010011110100110101001101010110010010000001010111010010000100010101010010 010001010010000001000001010100100100010100100000010110010100111101010101 Note: This translates to:
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Duskworld23 |
Posted: Feb 18 2011, 12:49 PM 0100001000000110100101110100001011100010000001001001001000000110001101100001011011100010011101110100 0010000001100101011101100110010101101110001000000110100001100001011101100110010100100000011000010010 0000011011010110111101101101011001010110111001110100001000000110111001001101000110111100100000011101 0001101000011010010110111001101011001011100010000001001001001000000111011101100001011011100111010000 1000000111010001101111001000000110101101101001011011000110110000100000011011010111100101110011011001 0101101100011001100010110000100000011000100111010101110100001000000100100100100000011001000110111101 1011100010011101110100001000000110101101101110011011110111011100100000011010000110111101110111001011 1000100000010010010010000001101000011000010111011001100101001000000111010001011210111100100000011001 1001101001011011100110010000100000011000010010000001110111011000010111100100101110001000000100001001 1001010110011001101111011100100110010100100000010010010010000001101100011011110111001101100101001000 0001101101011110010111001101100101011011000110011000101110 Note: This translates to:
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??? |
Posted: Feb 18 2011, 1:00 PM 0000010001110110111101100100001011100000110100001010000011010000101001001001001000000110001101100001 0110111000100000011000100110010101100011011011110110110101100101001000000110010101110110011001010111 001001111001011101000110100001101001011011100110011100101110 Note: This translates to:
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Kelbris |
Posted: Feb 18 2011, 6:20 PM |
Soon after access was gained to Wayward Horizon, the password was reset and users were booted to the main page. The new password was soon discovered to be "youshouldntbehere".
Announcements
This section contained two subforums, titled "Announcements" and "Forum Help". The former contained all of Guide's announcements, as well as those made by the forum's other moderators. The following is all of Guide's posts in the Announcements subforum; he made no posts in Forum Help. In addition to the topics below, Guide made one more titled "Jadusable And The Revolution" that has since been lost.
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 17 2011, 11:12 PM
This is a general forum designed to have every tool, every text, and every cipher available at the player's fingertips. This forum is not meant to replace any existing forum, but rather, its purpose is to serve as a central hub for you, the player. From here, you will be able to access everything related to the story - from a specific video to a certain Wikipedia article - in one convenient and organized location.
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 21 2011, 11:45 PM To be notified as soon as the trailer is revealed, remember to subscribe to Jadusable on Youtube, or alternatively follow WithinHubris on Twitter.
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 26 2011, 07:18 PM Due to the YSHDT.net website temporarily moving here, we've added a donation button at the top of the page (subject to change). Your donations are always appreciated and they mean a lot in keeping this project up and running. Please keep in mind that donating doesn't mean you will be receiving anything in compensation. Please also bare in mind that donating will not bring the game any closer to release. You should only donate if you enjoy the story or want to help support it (there is no guarantee that you will receive anything as compensation) - and as always your donations are greatly appreciated. |
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Guide |
Posted: Mar 1 2011, 01:13 PM - Must have knowledge of using the UNITY game engine - Must be able to work well with others - Must show examples of your work within the resume - Please title the subject of the email with something akin to "Application for <insert here>"
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Guide |
Posted: Apr 5 2011, 03:06 AM Not to mention I just recently moved to New York (happy to say that I'm starting to make strides forward with a career in this), and I've been moving in/networking/meeting important people for the past few weeks. Not to make excuses, but that's basically what's been on my plate. I'm sure this will be met with a lot of disdain, and I totally understand where you guys are coming from, and I honestly can't blame you guys. There have been so many little hiccups and delays throughout this entire process that have come up that it can be discouraging even for me to continue work on this project. However, knowing how great it will be and how I owe it to you guys to finish this has kept me going. This is my first time managing a staff, much less one that is creating a videogame, and I'm trying a lot of new things and ways for people to get involved in the story to ensure this final story arc is a memorable experience. The videogame is only one piece of the puzzle and I know you guys will get a kick out of it once you're able to experience this, and hopefully it will be worth the wait. I don't like making excuses and repeating the "but I'm just a sophomore in college, pity me!" line when we're met with a problem or a delay, and I can't tell you guys how relieving it is to know that some of you guys do understand that I can't just snap my fingers and churn out a game; that there are several real world factors involved like money, time, and managing a staff that go into it as well. But, like I said, I hate making excuses about this stuff and try to hold myself to the standards I set. But, like I said, I completely understand where you guys are coming from and if nothing else, you have my sincerest thanks and praise for enjoying the story enough to make it this far and being apart of the community. It means a lot to me; you guys are the greatest. Sorry this update was a little rushed, I meant to devote a lot more time to it but I've been answering/talking to the fanbase on Facebook for the past several hours (and juggling other stuff) - I didn't want to miss this little deadline as well. Even this announcement has probably already been spread around the community considering I must have talked to over a hundred of you guys today and answered your questions, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm wasting my figurative breath right now typing this one up. I'll fill you guys in on the majority of the info (concerning the real trailer, what's been going on behind the scenes, and when we can expect the final thing to be released) tomorrow, so save your pitchforks and torches until then. It may not be as bad as you think, and once again, thank you for your understanding about this whole thing. |
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Guide |
Posted: Apr 23 2011, 11:52 PM Yeah, you guys have been waiting. It sucks. I know. The best thing I can tell you is the best way to wait for the story/game right now is how you would wait for another season of a TV series, or for the release date of a movie/videogame. I appreciate some of you guys checking in on the website to see if anything has been updated on a constant basis, but at the same time I don't want you guys to get discouraged and burnt out because of the lack of "updates". Instead of having sporadic little events or updates throughout the "hiatus", we've opted to deliver them seamlessly all in one experience (which is why the Wayward Horizon subarc was paused) so that we don't frustrate anyone. It's a tough call to make, because I want you guys to still be engaged in the story and reward your dedication with new events every now and then, but too much teasing can be overall detrimental to the integrity of the work. Some of you understand why is this taking so long to complete, and for that I cannot tell you how reassuring it is to know that. I don't want to give off the impression that I'm slacking or leading you guys on, because you guys all mean a hell of a lot to me. I've been fortunate enough to have been put on a great path and I'm so much closer to achieving my dream of becoming a film director/producer/writer than I was this time last year. Living in New York, networking, juggling all these things and working on this project (as well as my next one) has proven to be overbearing to say the least. Overbearing is perhaps too extreme of a word, because while I've been the busiest I've ever been in my life, it has been the most rewarding and exciting experience for me. I'm attempting to do a lot with this project on top of it all, and a less headstrong individual would laugh at the mere notion that someone in my position with my financial situation is trying to do this... but then again if it was easy work it would never really pay off. I don't want it to make it seem like it's about the money, and its discouraging to try and deliver an incredible experience to you guys and find out that in the real world.... a lot of it is about the money. At least initially, but I feel like I've gotten past that now. I'm sure I've said this a dozen times, but I can't tell you how awesome it is to read your guys' fanmail or words of encouragement. It keeps me going and even though I've let you guys down with all the delays, I promise you it'll be all made up to you. It's been a bumpy road getting the staff together and figuring this all out, and thank you for bearing with me. To compensate for the delays, the entire Hubris arc is being reworked and fleshed out into a bigger experience. So much so that it's not so much another "arc" as it is another "season" entirely. In the end, I'm glad it's ended up this way which gives me enough room to delve into the lore and explain everything without it feeling overwhelming. The build-up event has been expanded upon and will now have a more dynamic role in the story. This is going to give a lot of you guys something to do this summer with the way it's looking... and hot damn I'm excited. I realize that today is a certain special occasion and obviously I want to give you guys a little information about the game... you guys have more than earned it. It's tricky, because I can't really divulge too many tid-bits without ruining some of the neat surprises/twists that are in store, but I can give you some sparse details that some of you may find interesting. - The game will have multiple performance settings to ensure that a wide range of computers (both high-end and ancient) will be able to play it. It will also be playable on PC and Mac. - You will have to deduct, endure, and fight tooth and nail for the actual game to be able to be unlocked and played. The first part of the Hubris arc will have nothing to do with the game. - Several characters will be making a return appearance. - The arc itself will involve you in more ways than just with your computer. - Several of the player factions that you guys have created will be referenced in the game. - Within Hubris (the forum) will evolve dynamically as the story progresses. - Youshouldnthavedonethat.net will be returning, albeit in a different form - Wayward Horizon will be made clear. - The "actual" Hubris trailer will be released on May 10th. This trailer was the trailer you were meant to see back in February and will have the release date for when the arc begins. - The Hubris arc will start at a date that ensures that it will not conflict with any of your guys' finals and that you guys have necessary time to devote to playing it. - There are multiple endings to the arc, based on choices that not just you, but the entire community will make as a whole throughout the story. Keeping with the "there is no fourth wall" theme as the story dynamically unfolds in real time, you will only experience one of these endings.
In closing, thank you for your continued support and don't burn yourselves out checking this website for updates every day (at least, until the arc officially starts). Obviously speculation and keeping in touch with the community is more than encouraged (and I love that), but just treat waiting for the Hubris arc as you would waiting for the Portal 2 or whatever you kids are into these days. Also, I stress that the Twitter/Facebook will always be OOC and meant to keep in touch with the fanbase. If you have a question about the game/story/anything, send me an email at WithinHubris@gmail.com instead of contacting me through Twitter/Facebook. Thanks again, Jadusable |
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Guide |
Posted: Jul 15 2011, 08:43 PM For starters, the game is simply not the place where I want it to be yet. It's not shaping up to what I envisioned. It still needs more work - a lot more work. Right now it functions too archaically and doesn't convey the right kind of realistic feel that I'm going for to make it the immersive tool that I wanted it to be. Maybe I'm being too ambitious with this project, but then again the phrase "too ambitious" never really made any sense to me to begin with. In addition to the development, there is the ever-present fact that I also have a real life to attend to. I wish this was my job, but the fact of the matter is it simply isn't. I have to put aside money because I want to attend a film school next year, and I can't afford to invest any more money into this project right now to revamp it as I see fit; my dream has to take precedence (and no, I'm not asking for any kind of donations, as always, the button is only there if you enjoyed the story. Even if I got enough money to continue working on the game and be able to invest in my future, there are other factors at play, so really, I appreciate it, but there's no need). The truth is, this project has been the source of a lot of unneeded stress for me for some time now, so for the sake of clarity perhaps it would be therapeutic to be able to take some pause from it and explore other avenues before returning to it reinvigorated. I'll still be reachable through email, Within Hubris, facebook, and twitter if you guys have any questions, comments, or just want someone to talk to - and consider this a permanent thing. I love keeping in touch with you guys, and I feel like you guys have so much to offer yet some of you just don't realize or refuse to acknowledge your potential for whatever reason. The people that I have talked to at great length on facebook or through email I find incredibly talented, and any motivation or inspiration or any way I can help you guys (any of you guys) further your own goals I would jump at the chance. I know this is going to bum a lot of you guys out, but it was either keep up this balancing act with a wishy-washy release date that would most likely be pushed back again (thus perpetuating the current cycle we've had of me just parroting to you guys what my team tells me at that given moment) or take pause from it and hopefully be able to resume it later this year when I have all my ducks in a row. I didn't make this decision lightly, but with everything that is going on I ultimately had to do what was best for the long term. It's not about the money, it's not about trying to please as many people as possible, it's about the integrity of the work. It's about creating something that I'm proud of. If that means it has to have a long development time because of my inexperience doing something of this nature, then that's what it will have. It's hard, if not impossible, for me to compromise on that regard. I've learned a hell of a lot from working on a project like this, the nature of several industries, and the skillsets required to be effective at them. I've made mistakes, but I'm grateful for the learning experiences and the knowledge I've gained because of them. My only regret is that it cost you guys some discomfort along the way. I want to hammer home that this project is not cancelled by any means, it will be finished, but at this point in time I do not have the means or the resources available to finish it in the way I want to. On a side note about my personal life, in my free time I've recently started work on a screenplay that I intend to film this year that I feel will really hit home and resonate with a lot of you guys (and hopefully will help re-energize me about this project at the same time), although I can't go into specifics at the moment. I'll be updating the status of that project via the Twitter. In closing, I want you guys to take from this the fact that there is nothing holding you back from achieving success in whatever field it is that you want to do. You can't wait for it to come to you, you have to go out there and take it. Fortune favors the bold, etc. and all that, but I'll be damned if it isn't true. Nothing good comes from waiting. All I needed was a laptop and an internet connection - that's it. There was no company backing this story, it was just me. And that's the only thing you need. We live in an incredible information age where there is literally no reason why every single one of you cannot go and do the same thing, and I know you guys are capable. Don't put it off any longer. Go out there and achieve - there is nothing holding you back - stake your claim in this world and go kick ass. It's out there waiting for you. |
Story
This section contained four subforums, titled "General Discussion", "Theory Discussion", "Story Speculation", and "New Developments". General Discussion itself contained three subforums, titled "Haunted Cartridge Arc", "Moon Children/Ryukaki Arc", and "Hubris Arc"; it is also the only subforum in this section that Guide posted in, with the others taken care of by the other moderators.
Several of Guide's topics were lost. The known lost Guide topics are:
- A Present From Me To You
- Poll: Vote For 2nd Community Game Hour
- Announcing The Telethon
- Choose The Games We Play This Weekend
- Hubris Soundtrack Released
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 17 2011, 10:54 AM
Easy stuff right? Enjoy your time here and don't hesitate to contact one of our moderators should you have any questions or concerns! |
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 17 2011, 11:32 AM
Note: This was posted in the Haunted Cartridge Arc subforum. |
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 17 2011, 11:38 AM
Note: This was posted in the Moon Children/Ryukaki Arc subforum. |
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 17 2011, 11:38 AM
Note: This was posted in the Hubris Arc subforum. |
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 27 2011, 08:20 AM
To make chronicling the events easier, the story itself is divided up into three parts, or story arcs. They are: Arc 1 - The Haunted Cartridge Arc 2 - The Moon Children Arc 3 - Hubris There are also three sub-arcs that occur at various points in the story - taking place in between or even during Arcs (relax, it isn't as confusing as it sounds). These sub-arcs help bridge any gaps and elaborate on the lore of the story, these are not essential to know however they do provide interesting and significant insights. Sub-Arc 1: TheLinkMissing Sub-Arc 2: Ryukaki Sub-Arc 3: Wayward Horizon At the time of this writing the Hubris arc - the third and final story arc (and the downloadable game accompanying it) - has not yet been released, so this won't be covered. The Hubris arc is follows its own storyline that, while drawing from Arcs 1 and 2, it ultimately does not require you to know everything that's happened backwards and forwards. Being knowledgeable of it all will definitely enhance your experience, and you may even pick up on things that others may miss, but it is by no means required to enjoy Arc 3.
Complete Guide: You just want the story laid out in front of you, choosing how much you want to dabble in it. Authentic Experience: You're new and you want to experience the story as it was intended. In that case, instead of reading the rest of this topic - go ahead and begin with the story here . If you get confused, refer back to this guide.
The fan-created wikia served as the main resource of information until this forum was created, but it still is a reliable source of first-hand accounts (which come into play when the website was changing frequently during Arc 2) and is worth checking out. To this date I personally have not touched a single page on there, so I cannot personally guarantee that everything that's featured on there is accurate, but the contributors there are usually trustworthy and I would recommend visiting it. There is already an elaborate page on using the wiki worth reading. OsirisOmega has written an outstanding guide on it.
So, if this sounds overwhelming to you - know that bare bones, in order to understand the basic premise of the story and not be lost when Arc 3 begins, knowledge of only Arc 1 - The Haunted Cartridge - is required. Not as bad as you thought, right? So what - you might ask - is the point of even bothering with Arc 2 or any of the sub-arcs? While you won't be lost as to what's going on with the Hubris arc, there will be a lot of key things that you just won't get if you hadn't gone through the Moon Children arc/subarcs. You will still be able to experience the story and comprehend it, but you'll be missing out on some of the backstory and lore that will make the events that transpire in the Hubris arc more meaningful. That said, take it step-by-step. It's a lot easier to grasp the story when you lay it out in easy, accessible pieces.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding the Moon Children arc and its enigmatic nature is intentional at this point. During this Arc, a website was revealed. Originally it appeared as if players (those who were following the story at the time) had stumbled upon some kind of fanatical cult website. This website changed dynamically based on the actions of the players. The most accurate way to document/record these events is through a timeline, which is provided Arc 2 - The Moon Children Timeline. This also documents almost all of the changes the website went through from its creation to its merge into this forum. The first two sub-arcs (TheLinkMissing and Ryukaki) are apart of the timeline itself for reference.
Not much has been revealed yet about the Hubris arc. The third sub-arc, Wayward Horizon, has only had brief murmurs after its creation, but we'll have to wait and see.
The guide is a work in progress, some of it is subject to change and the subarcs (and bonus content) will be elaborated on later to a much greater degree. At the moment there are other things that are more pressing that require my attention! - J Contact - WithinHubris@gmail.com |
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Guide |
Posted: Jan 13 2012, 03:00 PM I want to take this time to address my interactions with the community. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time and now seems like the perfect opportunity. I do owe you guys some kind of explanation, because I feel that the way I’ve interacted with you guys has been inexcusable. I will say that while it was inexcusable, it wasn’t out of any ill intent, I just did not know any better at the time. I never expected this story to get as popular as it did; I never expected to be thrust into this position of having a big fanbase. I was clueless on how to handle it. This is just real talk, I haven't had time to really proof read this chunk of text up, so hunker down and get ready for some one on one, I had to get it off my chest. I always want to help out like-minded people that have big aspirations and who go against the grain to create or invent, and hopefully my little play-by-play account of some of the happens with myself and the community can maybe shed some light into someone's scenario or help someone else avoid the same pitfalls that I ran into. I want to give back to you guys in any way I can right now, even though I don't have much to offer at this current point in time. So here’s my perspective. Those of you out there that are artists, or writers, or anyone who has been in the figurative “limelight” at any point in time – no matter how big or how small – will know what I’m talking about here. And if you haven’t, I expect that a good majority of you will experience what that’s like someday, because there are so many people in this community that are just so damn talented and creative that it still blows my mind. So maybe this little bit might have some applicable advice for some of you in the future (and I’d get a kick out of it if it helped). When you’re looking through Youtube comments, emails, tweets – anything - negative feedback tends to stand out more than positive feedback. This isn’t inherently a bad thing - it’s good to be made aware of your faults and shortcomings - that’s how we grow as inventors, creators, and as people. However, it is essential to know how to put all of it in perspective and absolutely paramount to know how to handle it. There are workshops built around learning this, entire jobs are devoted to this, which is not something that I knew how to do back then. If you create something – anything – the first rule is that there will be people out there that will hate it. No matter what it is, no matter how good it is, no matter how sacred it is, there will be what seems like a staggering amount of people who hate your shit. Sometimes just because its your shit and not theirs. They will hate it for a hundred different reasons and that will manifest itself in a variety of different ways. And they will not hesitate to let you know that. You just have to accept that. Sometimes it can seem like everybody and their neighbor just hates your shit, even when that just isn’t true. It’s the same principle how all we seem to see on the news are crimes and scandals. In this media age we’re hardwired to love drama. Failure is more interesting than success. Often times the bulk of the people who support you are predominantly less vocal than their antagonistic counterparts, but it doesn’t mean that they aren’t still there. Barring Rebecca Black, if people are taking the time to hate on you and your work, you must be doing something right for all of those other people. If something really was shitty, and I mean legitimately bad, no one would care enough to even say anything about it. You don’t see people lining up to flame the guy on Youtube with 184 views and 5 dislikes. For example, I loved Inception because it showed that a smart, thought provoking movie could be a box office smash hit, and I hate Twilight because I think it’s a misogynistic piece of work that is disempowering to women because of how dependant Bella is to Edward (to Twilight’s credit, I haven’t seen a single movie or read a single book of the series, so I’m just basing this off what I’ve gathered from external sources and reviews, for the sake of the example stay with me). If I had to choose between spending my time gushing about how great Inception is or hypothesizing about why I think sparkling vampires are bad for everybody, the latter sounds infinitely more interesting to me, even if I’m probably the most unqualified person in the world to write about it. Secondly, you have to come to terms with the fact that you will be gossiped about and that there will be people who say things about you that aren’t true. Then, because of that, there will be other people that will read those accusations and just assume they’re true because, again, drama is exciting (how do you think those celebrity gossip magazines make so much money?). In most of these cases, you have to learn how to just ignore them and let them continue gossiping. You have to, because if you give it any attention you are then bringing it to the attention of hundreds of completely new people now. And then some of them start to wonder why you are making such a point to deny these accusations if they aren’t true (and all other snowballing trains of thought). There’s a tightrope balance act between knowing when to squelch something outright and when to ignore it. This was the hardest thing for me to do, especially with some of the stuff that has been said about me. Worse yet are the people who will – for whatever reason - deliberately accuse of you things that they themselves know are completely untrue just to slander you.
Then, one day I visited a bunch of old friends and posted a status update vaguely implying that I was hungover the next day. Yes, this may surprise some of you, but most college kids do in fact imbibe alcohol. And no, that does not inherently make them alcoholics – most have the sensibility to use moderation (although judging by some of the frat boys on campus, I would contest that). Then someone on the forums started a joke that the reason for the delays was that I was spending all the donation money on binge drinking. Granted, I thought it was hilarious and almost woke up my entire floor laughing when I stumbled upon that photoshop thread. But then whether it was through malicious intent by a select few people who at that point had some burning vendetta against me or whether it was just the world’s worst game of telephone; people started calling me an alcoholic on the forums and it caught on. I figured if high school was any indication, it’s better to laugh it off, and everyone would eventually forget about it. And again, I had no idea how to handle this. The ironic bit is that I’m a pretty light drinker, even in college, so I didn’t know whether to let it slide or do something or what. In retrospect, reading all the slanderous things people have said about me used to really bother me. So if anyone is struggling with this or if you run into this into the future, just know that while it may be awful now, you just learn to laugh at it all. As goofy as it sounds, I finally get what rappers are talking about how they deal with haters, I finally understand why all the proverbial shit slinging doesn’t bother those who face adversity, I finally can relate to the kind of philosophy successful people have about those who despise them. It’s almost like a badge of honor, that you sparked such an emotion in someone, that you had such a powerful impact on them, that they’re obsessed with you to the point that they spend all this effort to write up lengthy posts about you. It’s empowering, in a weird way, especially considering I’ve always tried to be a people pleaser. That's almost how you have to look at it, because the alternative is just demoralizing beyond all hell. Obviously I’m not talking about the posts critiquing and pointing out the issues with my writing or the development process – I take those very seriously and have the utmost respect and gratitude towards those people who are generous and who care enough to lend their expertise and feedback. I’m referring to the troll posts accusing me of being this or that based on a quote taken out of context or a joke that went sailing over their head. They’re not even worth mentioning further because the things I’ve been accused of are so absurd that if you knew me in real life you would laugh at how ridiculous they are. That’s why I’ve been so sporadic with the community; I was trying to figure out how to deal and handle all of this and was failing. There was a chat interview that I tried to loosen up, drop the professional attitude, and joke around with people that I found also was a mistake because of the crazy things that people took from that. I pulled away, returning to my stance of “less is more” when it came to our interactions, thinking that if I was around less, other instances like this would be avoided. But going back to the first rule, the haters are always the most vocal, and those who support you are usually less vocal. I kind of knew it back then, but I didn’t really know it until I had gone through and experienced it first hand. I knew in the back of my mind that there had to be people on the forums that were still excited for the Hubris arc and didn’t hate my guts, but it didn’t really register at the time. Like, I knew I should be thinking that, but for whatever reason I really began to doubt the whole deal. It seemed as though any time I did anything, it would always trigger some negative backlash. But you know what? That’s inevitable. You can’t please everybody all the time, and I was so wrapped up in the criticisms that I couldn’t see anything else. Quite simply, it just made me not enjoy interacting with the community. The squeaky wheel got the grease. I let the few people ruin it for the many (not the production/dev, but the interactions). But it was my fault, not theirs, and it shouldn’t have had to happen like that. That’s what my main goal with writing this is; I want you to see my mindset through this and so you can avoid the mistakes I made, but understand why things went the way they did with the community. At the time, I thought the majority of the community was fed up with the whole thing because that’s all I seemed to see on the forums, and I stopped coming around so much. It started a snowball effect, because the less involved I was in the community, the more other people were joining the haters (and rightly so). I didn’t know how to handle the plethora of issues at hand (the PR ones alone were rough, god forbid the actual technical issues of what I was creating and the process behind that) and I totally brought it upon myself in the end, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. But most of all I’m sorry to the fans who stood by my side in silent approval, waiting through setback after setback, supporting me while I fumbled around like the amateur I was, while they were completely oblivious to how jaded I was getting with the whole project. But, life goes on. I regret how the whole process went down, and while I’m always still improving I’m glad that I got to learn a lot of this stuff firsthand this early in my life. I’m hella thankful. Sorry, I just wanted to use that phrase in hopes that someone will randomly quote me on it if you guys do another photoshop thread. Provided it’s not something like, “I’m hella thankful,” – Jadusable, on 9/11 Okay, well maybe that’s a little funny.
Anyway, I’m not writing a comprehensive guide about the intricacies of what I briefly, briefly touched upon in terms of managing the success – there are so many other places, teachers, and resources that explain it better than I ever could – but I strongly encourage you guys to look into this if you even so much as think you may be in a similar position in the future (the majority of you reading this probably will be, given how talented some of you are). So yeah, learn from my mistakes, and hopefully understand my perspective on the whole thing a bit more. I never once had any malicious intent towards you guys, and a lot of the hate that I get in terms of my character and person are totally unjustified (excluding my tardiness and my affinity towards the word “delay”, that’s totally justified), but I want to apologize for the way things have turned out spotty between us. Ultimately, I want you to see that I’m human and make mistakes and just because I wrote a crazy story doesn’t mean I automatically know how to deal with all things fanbase. When it comes down to it, I’m just a dude, bro.
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In addition to the above topics, Guide made a six-post topic in the Haunted Cartridge Arc subforum containing the entirety of the story as originally posted by Jadusable.
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Posted: Feb 21 2011, 07:25 AM
For each entry, read the story and then watch the corresponding video. Viewers also noticed that Jadusable had another Youtube video on his account - uploaded a year before any of this began - a suspicious video of a character named Rosa. It is recommended, but not required, that viewers read this optional entry first.
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Posted: Feb 21 2011, 07:40 AM Prologue: Rosa (6 - 14 - 09) On September 07, 2010, when day four.wmv was first released, Jadusable only had two other videos on his Youtube account profile - one of random gameplay footage from the videogame Prototype (seemingly unrelated), and a more cryptic video by a character named Rosa (both of these videos were uploaded a year before the "Haunted Cartridge" investigation began). While the Prototype video was standard fare for someone to have on Youtube, the Rosa video was almost curiously out-of-place. All it contained was the dialogue of an unimportant character in a game made back in 2003 and that was the extent of it. Rosa, in Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, has a mutation which causes her to predict the future and she gives cryptic clues as to what that game's plot is. At first, she was only a side-thought to those desperately trying to help save Jadusable from the haunted cartridge, but as the story progressed people began to notice there were some disturbing simliarities between Rosa's cryptic messages and what was happening to Jadusable. The video description itself contained hidden words that were central to the haunting - "drowned", "stoned", "lone wolf", "fourth wall", and viewers suddenly realized that this was too much of a coincidence to be unrelated:
Horrifyingly, over the course of the story, all but a few of Rosa's predictions would come true, from describing the locales Jadusable would visit, to the foes he would face, all leading up to her now-infamous phrase in the video:
With such a vague phrase to go on, no one really knew what it could mean. At first everyone assumed that Rosa was telling Jadusable not to open the game's save file because it was haunted, but as it was later discovered, Rosa was trying to warn the very viewers themselves about an incident that would happen after Jadusable had released his fourth and final video.
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Posted: Feb 21 2011, 07:43 AM day four (9 - 7 - 10) I recently moved into my dorm room starting as a Sophomore in college and a friend of mine gave me his old Nintendo 64 to play. I was stoked, to say the least, I could finally play all of those old games of my youth that I hadn't touched in at least a decade. His Nintendo 64 came with one yellow controller and a rather shoddy copy of Super Smash Brothers, and while beggars can't be choosers, needless to say it didn't take long until I became bored of beating up the computer players. That weekend I decided to drive around a few neighborhoods about twenty minutes or so off campus, hitting up the local garage sales, hoping to score on some good deals from ignorant parents). I ended up picking up a copy of Pokemon Stadium, Goldeneye, F-Zero, and two other controllers for two dollars. Satisfied, I began to drive out of the neighborhood when one last house caught my attention. I still have no idea why it did, there were no cars there and only one table was set up with random junk on it, but something sort of drew me there. I usually trust my gut on these things so I got out of the car and I was greeted by an old man. His outward appearance was, for lack of a better word, displeasing. It was odd, if you asked me to tell you why I thought he was displeasing, I couldn't really pinpoint anything - there was just something about him that put me on edge, I can't explain it. All I can tell you is that if it wasn't in the middle of the afternoon and there were other people within shouting distance, I would not have even thought of approaching this man. He flashed a crooked smiled at me and asked what I was looking for, and immediately I noticed that he must be blind in one of his eyes; his right eye had that "glazed over" look about it. I forced myself to look to his left eye instead, trying not to offend, and asked him if he had any old video games. I was already wondering how I could politely excuse myself from the situation when he would tell me he had no idea what a video game was, but to my surprise he said he had a few ones in an old box. He assured me he'd be back in a "jiffy" and turned to head back into the garage. As I watched him hobble away, I couldn't help but notice what he was selling on his table. Littered across his table were rather... peculiar paintings; various artworks that looked like ink blots that a psychiatrist might show you. Curious, I looked through them - it was obvious why no one was visiting this guy's garage sale, these weren't exactly aesthetically pleasing. As I came to the last one, for some reason it looked almost like Majora's Mask - the same heart-shaped body with little spikes protruding outward. Initially I just thought that since I was secretly hoping to find that game at these garage sales, some Freudian bullshit was projecting itself into the ink blots, but given the events that happened afterward I'm not so sure now. I should have asked the man about it. I wish I would have asked the man about it. After staring at the Majora-shaped blot, I looked up and the old man was suddenly there again, arms-length in front of me, smiling at me. I'll admit I jumped out of reflex and I laughed nervously as he handed me a Nintendo 64 cartridge. It was the standard gray color, except that someone had written Majora on it in black permanent marker. I got butterflies in my stomach as I realized what a coincidence this was and asked him how much he wanted for it. The old man smiled at me and told me that I could have it for free, that it used to belong to a kid who was about my age that didn't live here anymore. There was something weird about how the man phrased that, but I didn't really pay any attention to then, I was too caught up in not only finding this game but getting it for free. I reminded myself to be a bit skeptical since this looked like a pretty shady cartridge and there's no guarantee it would work, but then the optimist inside me interjected that maybe it was some kind of beta version or pirated version of the game and that was all I needed to be back on cloud nine. I thanked the man and the man smiled at me and wished me well, saying "Goodbye then!" - at least that's what it sounded like to me. All the way in the car-ride home, I had a nagging doubt that the man had said something else. My fears were confirmed when I booted up the game (to my surprise it worked just fine) and there was one save file named simply "BEN". "Goodbye Ben", he was saying "Goodbye Ben". I felt bad for the man, obviously a grandparent and obviously going senile, and I - for some reason or another - reminded him of his grandson "Ben". Out of curiosity I looked at the save file. Eyeballing it, I could tell that he was pretty far in the game - he had almost all of the masks and 3/4 remains of the bosses. I noticed that he had used an owl statue to save his game, he was on Day 3 and by the Stone Tower Temple with hardly an hour left before the moon would crash. I remember thinking that it was a shame that he had come so close to beating the game but he never finished it. I made a new file named "Link" out of tradition and started the game, ready to relive my childhood. For such a shady looking game cartridge, I was impressed at how smoothly it ran - literally just like a retail copy of the game save for a few minor hiccups here and there (like textures being where they shouldn't be, random flashes of cut-scenes at odd intervals, but nothing too bad). However the only thing that was a little unnerving was that at times the NPCs would call me "Link" and at other times they would call me "BEN". I figured it was just a bug - a fluke in the programming causing our files to get mixed up or something. It did kind of creep me out though after a while, and it was around after I had beaten the Woodfall Temple that I regrettably went into the save files and deleted "BEN" (I had intended to preserve the file just out of respect of the game's original owner, it's not like I needed two files anyway), hoping that that would solve the problem. It did and it didn't, now NPCs wouldn't call me anything, where my name should be in the dialogue there was just a blank space (my save file name was still called "Link", though). Frustrated, and with homework to do, I put the game down for a day. I started playing the game again last night, getting the Lens of Truth and working my way towards completing the Snowhead Temple. Now, some of you more hardcore Majora's Mask players know about the "4th Day" glitch - for those who don't you can Google it but the gist of it is that right as the clock is about to hit 00:00:00 on the final day, you talk to the astronomer and look through the telescope. If you time it right the countdown disappears and you essentially have another day to finish whatever you were doing. Deciding to do the glitch to try and finish the Snowhead Temple, I happened to get it right on the first try and the time counter at the bottom disappeared. However, when I pressed B to exit the telescope, instead of being greeted by the astronomer I found myself in the Majora boss fight room at the end of the game (the trippy boxed in arena) staring at Skull Kid hovering above me. There was no sound, just him floating in the air above me, and the background music which was regular for the area (but still creepy). Immediately my palms began to sweat - this was definitely not normal. Skull Kid NEVER appeared here. I tried moving around the area, and no matter where I went, Skull Kid would always be facing me, looking at me, not saying anything. Nothing would happen though, and this kept up for around sixty seconds. I thought the game had bugged or something - but I was beginning to doubt that very much. I was about to reach for the reset button when text appeared on my screen: "You're not sure why, but you apparently had a reservation..." I instantly recognized that text - you get that message when you get the Room Key from Anju at the Stock Pot Inn, but why was it playing here? I refused to entertain the notion that it was almost as if the game was trying to communicate with me. I started navigate the room again, testing to see if that was some sort of trigger that enabled me to interact with something here, then I realized how stupid I was - to even think that someone could reprogram the game like this was absurd. Sure enough, fifteen seconds later another message appeared on the screen, and again like the first one it was already a preexisting phrase "Go to the lair of the temple's boss? Yes/No". I paused for a second, contemplating what I should press and how the game would react, when I realized that I couldn't select no. Taking a deep breath, I pressed Yes and the screen faded to white, with the words "Dawn of a New Day" with the subtext " |
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Posted: Feb 21 2011, 07:44 AM BEN (9 - 8 - 10) I'm going to post what happened and link the video footage, but last night everything got too real for me. I think I'm done messing around with this. I passed out pretty much immediately after making that thread. But last night, that Elegy of Emptiness statue, I had a dream about it. I dreamed that it was following me in my dream, that I would be minding my own business when I'd feel my neck hairs stand up on end. I would turn around that thing... that horrible, lifeless statue would be staring with those empty eyes right at me, merely inches away. In my dream I remember calling it Ben, and never before had I had a dream that I could remember so vividly. But the important thing is I did get some sleep, I suppose. Today, putting off playing the game as long as I could, I drove back up to that neighborhood to see if the old man came back. As I expected, the car was still gone and no one was home. As I was walking back to my car, the man next door mowing the grass killed the power to his lawnmower and asked me if I was looking for someone. I told him that I was looking to talk to the old man that lived here, to which he told me what I already knew - he was moving. Trying a different avenue, I asked if the old man had any family or relatives I could talk to. I discovered that this old man had never been married, nor did he have any children or grandchildren through adoption. Starting to become worried, I asked one final question, one that I should have asked from the beginning - who was Ben? The man's expression turned grim and I learned that four doors down around eight years ago on April 23rd - the man informed me that it was the same day as his anniversary, that's how he knew the specific date - there was an accident with a young boy named Ben in the neighborhood. Shortly after his parents moved, and despite any further attempts to talk to the man to get more information, he wouldn't divulge anything else. I went back and started playing again, I loaded up the game and immediately I jumped at the title screen where the mask flies by - the sound that played was not the normal "whoosh" sound, it was something much more higher pitched. I pressed start, bracing for the worst, but just like two nights ago, the files "Your Turn" and "BEN" were displayed (truth be told I looked at the BEN file earlier, it seems to fluctuate between displaying the Owl Save and not). I brought up the BEN file, hesitated for a moment noticing that the stats were not the same as they original were two days ago, it seemed like he had already completed the Stone Tower Temple this time... Summoning my courage I selected it. Immediately I was thrust into complete chaos. Sure enough, I was outside Stone Tower Temple, but that's about all that was expected. The zone itself wasn't called Stone Tower Temple, but rather "St o n e", and immediately a dialogue box of complete gibberish that I couldn't make out greeted me. Link's body was distorted - his back was cocked violently to the side where his posture was permanently disfigured. Link's expression was dull, almost monotonous, he had an expression on his face that I didn't recognize before, it was a blank look - as if he was dead. As Link stood there his body spasmed irregularly back and forth I examined what had become of my avatar and noticed I had a C button item I had never seen before, some kind of note, but pressing it did nothing. Sounds played back and forth that I didn't recognize from the game - almost demonic in nature, and there was some kind of high-pitched yip or some kind of laugh or something playing in the background. I had all of two minutes to take in the environment before another one of those fucking Elegy of Emptiness statues was summoned and immediately after I was cut into the "Dawn of a New Day" screen, except this time it was without the "||||||" subtext. I was a Deku Scrub in Clock Town - this scene would normally play after the first time you traveled back in time. Tatl would say "Wh-What just happened? It's as if everything has..." but instead of saying "Started over", she finished her remark in broken text as the laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman played in the background. I was put back in control of my character, but from a fucked up camera angle - I was looking from behind the door to the Clock Tower, watching my avatar run around as a Deku Scrub. Seeing as how I really had no place to go because I couldn't see anything, I begrudgingly went inside the door. There, I was greeted by the Happy Mask Salesman who simply told me "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" before the screen whited out. I was in Termina field as a human again. I might as well not have been playing the same game anymore - I was being warped around and there was no sign of a day clock or anything. I took a moment to get my bearings as I looked around the field and immediately I could tell that this was not normal. There were no enemies and a twisted version of the Happy Mask Salesman's theme was playing. I decided to run towards Woodfall before I noticed a gathering of three figures off to the side - one of them being Epona. As I approached them, to my horror I saw the Happy Mask Salesman, the Skull Kid, and the Elegy of Emptiness statue just standing there. I figured maybe they were bugged out, but by now I told myself that I should know better. Nevertheless, I approached them carefully and found that the Skull Kid was playing some kind of idle animation on loop, same with Epona, and the Elegy of Emptiness statue was doing what it has been doing all along - just standing there eerily. It was the Happy Mask Salesman that scared me more profoundly than the other two. He too was idle, wearing that shit-eating grin, but where-ever I moved, his head slowly turned and followed me. I had not engaged in any dialogue with him nor was I in combat with him, yet his head still continued to follow my movements. Reminded of my first encounter with the Skull Kid on top of Clock Tower, I pulled out my Ocarina (to which the game played the ding sound when you're supposed to play your Ocarina) and tried a song I hadn't played yet - the Happy Mask Salesman's own song and the song that had been playing on loop back in Day 4 - the Song of Healing. I finished playing the song and as I did, a ear-piercing shriek blasted on my TV, the sky immediately started flashing, the Happy Mask Salesman's twisted theme song sped up, intensifying the fear inside me, and Link exploded into flames and died. The three figures stayed lit up during my death screen as they watched my lifeless body burn. I can't describe to you how sudden and terrifying the transition from eerie to terror it is, you're going to have to watch the video if you want to see first-hand. That same fear that caused me to lose sleep two days ago started to grip me again as I was met with the text "You've met with a horrible fate, haven't you?" for the third time. There has to be some kind of meaning behind that. I had little time to ponder as I was immediately given another small cut-scene of transforming into a Zora and now I found myself in Great Temple Bay. Hesitant but curious to see what the game had in store for me, I slowly made my way towards the beach, where I found Epona. I wondered why the game had decided to put her here, was the game implying she was trying to get a drink? Unable to take the mask off, I decided that riding the steed wasn't the reason she was placed there. Suddenly I realized that Epona kept neighing and the way she was angled made it look like she was trying to signal a point to me off in the distance. It was a hunch, but I dove into Great Bay and started swimming. Sure enough - I almost missed it - I found something at the bottom of the ocean; one last Elegy of Emptiness statue. I went down to examine it and suddenly my Zora started doing a choking animation I had never seen a Zora do before - which didn't even make sense because Zora's can breath underwater. Regardless, my character choked to death and died, and again the statue was the only thing that was highlighted in my death. I didn't re-spawn this time, I was booted back to the main menu as if I restarted the console. The "press start" screen was before me, I knew the only reason why it would put me here is because the save files had changed again. Taking a deep breath, I pressed start, and I was right. The new save files told me about Ben. Now it made sense why the statue appeared when I tried to go to the Laundry Pool - the game must have anticipated how I would have tried to escape the Day 4 Clock Town. The two save files told me his fate. As I suspected, Ben was dead. He had drowned. The game obviously isn't through with me - it taunts me with the new save files - it wants me to keep playing, it wants me to go further, but I'm done with this shit. I'm not touching any more of the files. This is already way too horrifying for me and I don't even believe in the paranormal, but I'm running out of explanations. Why would someone send me this message? I don't understand it, I just get too depressed thinking about this, the footage is up here for those who want to see it and try and analyze it (maybe there's some kind of coded message in the gibberish or something symbolic in what I went through - I'm too emotionally and mentally drained to fuck with it anymore).
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Posted: Feb 21 2011, 07:47 AM DROWNED (9 - 10 - 10) I know its early in the morning, I've stayed up all night, I can't sleep, I don't care if people see this, that's not the point, I just want the word to get spread so I don't suffer for nothing. I've lost the will to type about this, the less I dwell on this the better, I think the video just speaks for itself. I did what you guys told me to do, I played the Elegy of Emptiness song at the first prompt by the game I was given, but I think that's what the game or Ben (Jesus Christ, I can't believe I'm even humoring the absurd idea that he exists in the game) wanted me to do. He's following me now, not just in the game, he's in my dreams. I see him all the time, behind my back, just watching me. I haven't gone to any of my classes, I've stayed in my dorm room with the windows closed and the blinds shut - that way I know he can't watch me. But he still gets me when I play, when I play he can still see me. The game is scaring me now. It talked to me for the first time - not just using text that's already in the game - it spoke to me. Talked to me. It referenced Ben. It talked to me. I don't know what it means. I don't know what it wants. I never wanted this, I just want my old life back. Stuff like this doesn't happen to people like me, I'm just a kid, not even old enough to drink yet. It's not fair, I want to go home, I want to see my parents again, I'm so far away from home here at this school, I just want to hug my mom again. I just want to forget that statue's horrible blank face. My original game file is back - just the way I left it before it was gone. I don't want to play anymore. I feel like something bad will happen if I don't, but that's impossible, it's a video game - haunted or not it can't hurt me, right? Like seriously though, it can't, right? That's what I keep telling myself, but every time I think about it I'm not so sure.
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Posted: Feb 21 2011, 07:50 AM jadusable (9 - 12 - 10) Let me just clear things up - I know you guys are worried but "Jadusable" is okay. he finished moving out today and he said he's going back home, he's just taking this semester off. I'm not really sure what's happened; I have a vague idea but you guys probably know more than I do. I'm "Jadusable's" roommate and obviously I knew something was wrong with him for a few days now. He stayed in his room all the time, fell out of contact with literally all of his friends, and I'm pretty sure he hadn't been eating hardly anything, after the second day I couldn't stay in there anymore, so I've been crashing at a buddy's place, only coming in to my room to get stuff that I need. I tried talking to him several times but he would cut me off or keep the conversation brief when I asked him about his strange behavior, it like he was convinced something was hunting him. yesterday I came to grab my philosophy book and he approached me, looking awful, like horrible bags under his eyes. he handed me a flash drive and gave me specific instructions. he told me that he needs me to do one last favor for him - he finally explained to me what has been going on, gave me the account info to his Youtube account, and he gave me instructions on how to post with his Name code on specifically this board, apparently he said you guys had been helping him along the way and you deserved to see the end of it. He told me that he's getting away from here, that it lured him to play it again instead of trying to change things and that he shouldn't of done that, and to upload the footage and inform people what happened. I told him that he could do it himself and he got this wild look in his eye and told me that he is never looking at that game again, and that's the last thing he said to me, he never even said bye when his parents came to pick him up. I was hoping I'd at least get a chance to meet his parents when they picked him up, but they were in and out so quick I never saw them. I honestly cant tell you what happened, when he spoke it was kind of hard to understand him and his fucked up appearance really distracted me. On the flash drive there was the footage of the game last night, a text document with his name and password for Youtube, and a third document called TheTruth.txt containing what he told me were "his notes" that he'd taken about this. He told me that this meant everything to him that I follow his instructions exactly, normally I wouldn't be so 'to-the-letter' for request over a fucking video game, but the way he spoke and the way he looked made me know this was really serious. I've had this video since yesterday, but had to have someone help me use pinnacle, that's not really my forte. That after watching it I had to go back through and look at his other videos on his Youtube account to realize what was going on and even then I'm really really confused. The video I'm releasing tonight, TheTruth.txt will be released on September 15th just like he requested; I don't know why he wants to wait for his notes to be published but after what that he's been through, I'll honor that request. I haven't dared peek at it yet, so the first time I see it will be the first time you see it out of respect to my friend. To answer your questions, no, I haven't tried calling him yet, I think I'll give him a call tomorrow to see if he's okay or not. He should have gotten back home by now. About the video: In this video I cut straight to when he loaded the "BEN" file in the game. Looking back, I realized that Jadusable left the save select screen in because it said different names sometimes, so my bad for that, but all it said this time was the same at the end of his last video (Link and BEN), nothing different. I wasn't there when he played it, but it looks to me like in the beginning when he first spawns he's testing out his equipment or seeing what items he has or something, because apparently they've changed randomly before. He really wanted you guys to see this, and the video starts then, after that I just think the game got too personal for him.
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 21 2011, 08:05 AM The Truth (9 - 15 - 10) As promised, Jadusable (or rather, his roommate) posted a link to download TheTruth.txt at 11:04pm. Jadusable's post was uncharacteristically short and consisted of simply "Honesty is the best policy" followed by a download link. This document contains all of the notes that Jadusable had been taking during the entire ordeal and now they were made available for the entire world.
http://www.mediafire.com/?6t16r3dp7gt2wbt
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Guide |
Posted: Feb 21 2011, 08:09 AM free (9 - 15 - 10) Exactly 108 minutes later, a new video was uploaded to Jadusable's Youtube account, simply entitled "free.wmv". Jadusable changed his Youtube profile picture and added the quote, "Now I am everywhere" to his profile. Viewers were made to draw their own conclusions as to what this video signified.
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Community
This section, utilized entirely for off-topic discussions, contained five subforums, titled "Newbie/Help Center", "Community General", "Videogame General", "Fan Created Content", and "Recruitment". Guide made no known posts in this section.
Character accounts
Immediately, users began finding forum profiles belonging to characters. These profiles were not simply listed in the "Members" group, with most listed as "Tenor". In addition to groups, it was possible to assign special titles to accounts, which were utilized in a few of the following cases.
| # | Username | Group | Title | Date joined | Miscellaneous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jadusable | Admin | Administrator | February 17, 2011 | Birthday listed as "23 April 1984" |
| 2 | Hubris | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | Made one unseen forum post on February 18, 2011 at 1:16pm |
| 3 | Ryukaki | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 4 | Alex | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | Made one unseen forum post on February 18, 2011 at 12:58pm |
| 5 | Nekko | Tenor | Tenor | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 6 | Duskworld23 | Tenor | Tenor | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 7 | Drowned | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 8 | BEN | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 9 | Rosa | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | Location contained binary that translates to "bastionof", formerly "bastiono" |
| 10 | Insidiae | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 11 | Tyler | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 12 | Kelbris | Tenor | N/A | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 13 | Guide | Admin | Helping Hand | February 17, 2011 | N/A |
| 530 | ??? | Tenor | ??? | February 18, 2011 | Joined one day later than previous accounts |
| 2286 | Usekeb | Tenor | N/A | April 22, 2011 | Joined two months later than previous accounts, discovered on June 8 by MajinMew |
The binary code on Rosa's page appeared around 11:30am on February 19. At first, it read:
- 1001110110011110100011001000101110010110100100001001000110010000
When reversed, this translates to "bastiono". Users were unable to gain a meaning from this, but around 6:30pm, the code was updated:
- 100111011001111010001100100010111001011010010000100100011001000010011001
When reversed, this translates to "bastionof". Soon afterward, users realized it was a reference to Guide's welcome post, where he described Within Hubris as our "bastion of defense". Upon testing "bastionofdefense" as Wayward Horizon's password, users finally gained access.
Real-life information
This article or section contains information that applies to real life. It should not be considered part of the story.
User ranks
Users were able to gain different titles depending on their post count:
- Catalyst (0)
- Conspiracist (25)
- Fanatic (75)
- Devout (300)
- Pseudonym (423)
- Zealot (424)
- Martyr (750)
- Pathological (1200)
- Puppet (2000)
- Spirit (5000)
Guide
Guide was the official administrator of Within Hubris, and a game mechanic designed to present ARG-related material to the players. This was, in reality, the in-game personification of Alex Hall.
On July 15, the ARG was placed on hiatus, the announcement for which can be read here. This was the catalyst for the decline of Within Hubris. On the same day, Kayd Hendricks, the creator of the Ryukaki side-arc, conducted a Q&A describing his undesirable experience of working with Alex, to which Alex retaliated with a statement describing his arc as non canon, despite a Tenor account belonging to Ryukaki existing alongside the rest.
On April 23, 2012, Guide presented the players with an early alpha version of the Hubris game.
On June 2, Guide promoted Spanosa to administrator in order to combat trolls and vandals in his absence.
Police Incident
On August 8, 2012, Within Hubris was shut down by the police. At first, no one knew what happened. There was no notification of what had transpired, only a page stating that the forum no longer existed. Alex Hall announced that there was no way to get the forum back online, and revealed that the police had apparently removed it due to "death threats." With no other leads, users traced this back to a topic in which users were asked "who they would kill and why."
Newbris and Tribris
On August 10, Within Hubris was recreated by Kafeite and Dawn Of A New Day. The new forum, hosted on Zetaboards instead of InvisionFree, has no canon status. In order to differentiate between the two incarnations of Within Hubris, users began calling the original Oldbris and the new one Newbris.
In August 2018, due to Zetaboards' merge with Tapatalk, a new, independent version of Within Hubris was introduced, nicknamed Tribris. Rather than simply a forum, Tribris served as a collaborative repository for affiliated resources, such as wikis and Discord servers. In January 2020, the Jadusable Wiki was migrated from Fandom to Tribris, followed shortly afterward by the Johnisdead Wiki. Two new wikis, Missing Links and the Twelve Monoliths Wiki, were added in July and September, respectively.
In February 2021, the Awakening Discord server was closed by Alex Hall. In response, a new Within Hubris server was opened within hours, becoming a hub for the remainder of the community.
