Random Tidbits that don't really fit anywhere

[Connor Fallon]

Ben Plante really, really wanted everyone to know that Don Quixote's outfit colors were a reference to Naruto. Because he's a nerd and that was important to him for some reason.

Speaking of references, because I am a nerd, the Phantom Website is full of references to the game that got my started making games. Also Joffery from Game of Thrones is one of Romeo's classmates, I don't think anyone caught that in the comic. All of these were in the same vain of the Manfred Von Karma thing, toying with the fact that maybe these characters could have crossed although canonically they probably didn't.

Probably.

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Oh, and speaking of random tidbits, and of the Phantom parody site... what was the deal with the hamsters? There were a lot of strange shoutouts on that site that we eventually connected to puzzle-solving, but I still can't make out Hamsters. If only because googling "Hamsters" really isn't conducive to getting relevant results.

[Dana]

Ever hear of Andrew Lloyd Weber? Didn't he have a musical about singing animals? HMMM

[Connor Fallon]

Ever hear of Andrew Lloyd Weber? Didn't he have a musical about singing animals? HMMM

Wait, isn't that the guy who did the Phantom of the Opera musical? HMMMM.

This is another thing that was thrown out by me as a joke. Originally it's what the actual site was going to be for, but then I talked people out of running with my stupid joke. We still stuck it in there, though.

[BlackWolfe]

Ever hear of Andrew Lloyd Weber? Didn't he have a musical about singing animals? HMMM

I knew "Hamsters" was a Cats dig, but... Why hamsters in particular?

And why do I suddenly want to hear the Hamsters versions of some of those songs?

[Ben Plante]

Damn it Connor, don't spoil my tidbits before I do it.

I should begin actively doing post-mortem stuff tomorrow, as that's when the personal issue is resolved.

[Alexander Moser]

This is a random tidbit that is probably only of interest to me, but I'm posting it anyway. In the last Nick Farrell video, both the gravestone and the sunset were added in post and never actually existed. I was not at all surprised that people noticed that the grass around the stone didn't match the real grass, but I was a bit surprised that no one said (at least not out loud, that I know of) that both the grass and the gravestone didn't even exist.

The shadow cast by the cameraman (who was, in fact, me) was a bit of a challenge to deal with for at least three reasons. First, I had to make it match with the fake shadow of the gravestone as plausibly as I could. Second, since it overlaps with the fake shadow quite a bit, so I had to cut it out in order to avoid having it cast an obviously-fake "double shadow" where it overlapped. Finally, I also needed to make the real shadow fall onto the gravestone, which I managed only modestly convincingly.

At least a few people did think the lens flare looked overly fake, but that was one of the few things that was actually completely real.

[JackAlsworth]

I was tempted to call out the fakey-looking gravestone, but I didn't see a point to it and it felt kind of meta to do so (something I was trying to pull away from later in the game).

[BlackWolfe]

I was tempted to call out the fakey-looking gravestone, but I didn't see a point to it and it felt kind of meta to do so (something I was trying to pull away from later in the game).

I thought the gravestone looked fake, but not CGI fake. I thought it was a well-painted styrofoam prop, so kudos to you for that, Alex.

[S_o_S]

This is a random tidbit that is probably only of interest to me, but I'm posting it anyway. In the last Nick Farrell video, both the gravestone and the sunset were added in post and never actually existed. I was not at all surprised that people noticed that the grass around the stone didn't match the real grass, but I was a bit surprised that no one said (at least not out loud, that I know of) that both the grass and the gravestone didn't even exist.

The shadow cast by the cameraman (who was, in fact, me) was a bit of a challenge to deal with for at least three reasons. First, I had to make it match with the fake shadow of the gravestone as plausibly as I could. Second, since it overlaps with the fake shadow quite a bit, so I had to cut it out in order to avoid having it cast an obviously-fake "double shadow" where it overlapped. Finally, I also needed to make the real shadow fall onto the gravestone, which I managed only modestly convincingly.

At least a few people did think the lens flare looked overly fake, but that was one of the few things that was actually completely real.

I thought something was fishy about it, and thought there might be a hidden message in the grass. Dryu, in the chat, told me it was probably just a mat. Soooooooo...

[eli_gone_crazy]

I typically would be playing Pokemon while doing work on the ARG, since it's nice and turn-based. The sheer number of Pokemon I have named after things in this ARG (both players and characters) is astounding.

>_> where there any named after me? *curious*

[Victin]

I typically would be playing Pokemon while doing work on the ARG, since it's nice and turn-based. The sheer number of Pokemon I have named after things in this ARG (both players and characters) is astounding.

>_> where there any named after me? *curious*

Is it a Charizard?

[Tom]

Alex is covering. We found a Nick Farrell IRL, killed his wife, and buried her, all for the sake of immersion. Rick did a few weeks of jailtime until Eddie bought the court. The prosecutor even agreed to cameo as Pan's prosecutor, so really, everything turned out OK.

[Tom]

People are musing as to how the Cabal could possibly have thought Deanna was an agent of the players. Deanna was a Troper and she hated the fictionals. The players had, when that chat was written, tried to thwart the Cabal at every turn. They had become paranoid of your intentions, and lept to conclusions.

This was a mirror image to player theories that Deanna worked for the Cabal, which given Deanna's motivations, made 0 sense. Our intention with that chat was to point out the flaws in that line of reasoning.

One nice thing Deanna did for the larger storyline was make it clear that the real world was quite capable of having villains of its own, and the Cabal was willing to reject them.

[Tom]

We amuse ourselves by trying to come up with ways this concept could have been even more pretentiously meta.

-The ARG was real, and we only framed it as an ARG so people would actually submit fics and save the world, instead of panicking.

-We always told Alex that the real ARG was on him. He was the only player. Even the players were GM's. It was all an elaborate experimental theater piece designed to make him feel like he was working on videos for an ARG.

There's one more, but it's so meta that I kinda have to save it in case we ever make a sequel.

[Tom]

It occurred to me in the chat, about the schedule of the ARG... The fact that an update could occur at any time of day or night probably led to a feeling among the players, that it was like an RTS where someone came into your base every night and killed all your marines.

That's probably what got it to be so 24/7 addictive for the players we have... and probably what scared away the ones we don't.

[Scarab]

It occurred to me in the chat, about the schedule of the ARG... The fact that an update could occur at any time of day or night probably led to a feeling among the players, that it was like an RTS where someone came into your base every night and killed all your marines.

That's probably what got it to be so 24/7 addictive for the players we have... and probably what scared away the ones we don't.

Well, I no longer have anything you could call a rational sleep schedule, but it was pretty illogical to begin with, and I am one hundred percent positive this is actually going to come in useful in the long term.

It's like being at uni again. You sort of... forget the hours at which most people are sleeping

[BlackWolfe]

Well, I no longer have anything you could call a rational sleep schedule, but it was pretty illogical to begin with, and I am one hundred percent positive this is actually going to come in useful in the long term.

It's like being at uni again. You sort of... forget the hours at which most people are sleeping

There it is again... People, sheep is spelled with an H. And it is not a verb. And what is a rational sheep, and how do you schedule it? Do you make an appointment with it, or does it make an appointment with you? Or should that be "with ewe"?

[Scarab]

Well, I no longer have anything you could call a rational sleep schedule, but it was pretty illogical to begin with, and I am one hundred percent positive this is actually going to come in useful in the long term.

It's like being at uni again. You sort of... forget the hours at which most people are sleeping

There it is again... People, sheep is spelled with an H. And it is not a verb. And what is a rational sheep, and how do you schedule it? Do you make an appointment with it, or does it make an appointment with you? Or should that be "with ewe"?

...I'm pretty sure we have a pun thread somewhere dedicated to this very purpose, you know, BW (what's with the sheep?)

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

We amuse ourselves by trying to come up with ways this concept could have been even more pretentiously meta.

-The ARG was real, and we only framed it as an ARG so people would actually submit fics and save the world, instead of panicking.

-We always told Alex that the real ARG was on him. He was the only player. Even the players were GM's. It was all an elaborate experimental theater piece designed to make him feel like he was working on videos for an ARG.

There's one more, but it's so meta that I kinda have to save it in case we ever make a sequel.

Well, I guess it's time for the big Reveal...
All the Metaguards are actually GMs, running an ARG in which you guys are the players. The point of the game was for you to pretend to be GMs, for an ARG in which we were the players.
...That's right, infinitely-nested ARGs.

[Scarab]

Well, I guess it's time for the big Reveal...
All the Metaguards are actually GMs, running an ARG in which you guys are the players. The point of the game was for you to pretend to be GMs, for an ARG in which we were the players.
...That's right, infinitely-nested ARGs.

Waaait I thought the point was that a slect few of us were GMs convincing everyone else they were the GMs, when really everyone and everything was controlled by Alex Moser the whole time, and we have only the illusion of control in a world that is beyond our understanding.

[BlackWolfe]

Well, I guess it's time for the big Reveal...
All the Metaguards are actually GMs, running an ARG in which you guys are the players. The point of the game was for you to pretend to be GMs, for an ARG in which we were the players.
...That's right, infinitely-nested ARGs.

Well, not so much "infinite" as recursive, but yeah. We had a blast setting up this whole "open-ended ARG" thing for you -- so much so I had to come out from behind the scenes to participate.

Also, you are all my sockpuppets.

Waaait I thought the point was that a slect few of us were GMs convincing everyone else they were the GMs, when really everyone and everything was controlled by Alex Moser the whole time, and we have only the illusion of control in a world that is beyond our understanding.

No, we discarded that one in early planning, remember? Not sure Alex could be trusted with that kind of power over our status as real/fictional/metafictional.

[Scarab]

No, we discarded that one in early planning, remember? Not sure Alex could be trusted with that kind of power over our status as real/fictional/metafictional.

Oh riiight. yeah we anticipated him freaking out, going 'A GOD AM I' on us all and accidentally ending the world because cthulhu.

[Rick Healey]

... Damn it, you guys are all spoiling our plans for the sequel.

[Scarab]

... Damn it, you guys are all spoiling our plans for the sequel.

Well is it OUR fault for being highly intuitive people, the majority of whom got here via TV Tropes?