In order to save both of us some trouble, and hopefully prevent some headaches, I’ve made a list of people I DON’T think are a waste of your time. Check the “Watching” section on my blog’s sidebar for more details. Anyone not listed is just messing with you.
META Update: And yes, in response to the recent news that this ARG is unofficial, I will confirm it. I do this with great reluctance because “TINAG” is one of the most important rules of the genre, and a Puppetmaster never likes coming out from behind the curtain, even when his legitimacy is called into question. But I felt the need to address it in light of the recent controversy and hijack attempts, because I don’t like the word “hoax.”
Playing an unofficial ARG inspired by an official property may be considered a waste of time to those only hoping for the real deal, so to them, I apologize and say farewell. But the truth is that I never envisioned this to be a hoax or a waste of time, at least in the sense that I planned quite a bit out ahead of time and did it because of a genuine love for the ARG medium and the epic story that is LOST. I didn’t do this for the laughs.
So on that note, “WISH?” will be continuing. Whether it continues with 20 people or 200 people in light of this recent news doesn’t matter to me, as we’re going to help Elliott find his brother regardless. But in order to distance ourselves the controversy, and leave the way open for a possible official ARG revelation at Comic-Con, please refrain from using the #lostarg hashtag on Twitter. #simeonhobbes will do, in order to prevent any confusion.
So there you go. Hopefully this post put an end to a lot of the confusion.
Who is Simeon Hobbes? 
May 20, 2009 at 7:09 pm |
Oh well. I wish you luck with this. I pretty much only signed on if it was official. Now that I know that it’s not, I’ll have to bail. 🙂
Good luck! 😀
May 20, 2009 at 7:09 pm |
It wouldn’t have gone so awry if there wouldn’t have been so many people screwing it up with fake pages. Your specific material has been the most fun though, i will continue on!
May 20, 2009 at 7:13 pm |
i have kept silent through the “avalanche” or downfall of the lostarg, as i like to call it.
but this will hopefully get me active again! 🙂
i would like to know what TINA and META means, but oh well! 🙂
good luck! and i hope to be positively confused in the near future.
May 20, 2009 at 7:17 pm |
TINA = “This Is Not A Game”.
May 20, 2009 at 7:17 pm |
Bravo Elliott – thank you for coming clean.
I’m still on board though! Really – what does it matter if it’s ‘official’ or not – we’re all here for the same reason. Because we love Lost and because we like puzzles. If you’re willing to take us somewhere exciting, I’m willing to follow… it better be good though!!
Will continue to report on this on the now UNOFFICIAL #lostarg blog at
http://lostarg.wordpress.com/
@porridgebrain
May 20, 2009 at 7:18 pm |
I agree with Erik – I will continue to follow and help find the missing brother! I don’t mind that it’s not “official” – it is fun to play along anyway. (I think I mentioned this to several people in several places already). Thanks for clearing things up – maybe those who are upset about a “hoax” will leave us alone to play our game.
May 20, 2009 at 7:19 pm |
Please close the PM curtain, I’m in. For me it isn’t waste of time, because I like the story. Go on, I cannot wait to find the brother! 🙂
May 20, 2009 at 7:21 pm |
I think it has been well-written, so good for you!
May 20, 2009 at 7:28 pm |
I’m in – but thanks for coming clean!
May 20, 2009 at 7:32 pm |
I’m with you, people! And thank you very much, “Elliott”, because the game seems very funny and interesting. Anyone who plays an ARG, I think, should take into account the possibility of following blind paths, or just get rid of the unuseful need to know absolutely what it’s “true” or not: it’s true because we believe it, it’s the so called “suspension of misbelief” (or something like that: I know it in Italian, I don’t know if it’s the right translation!).
Every story is to be followed or believed, in order to get into it and FEEL it- not just passively read/watch it.
And this story seems very funny and well written, so I will surely go on! But, last thing in META: you should really get paid for that, absolutely ten times the money they gave to Hoodlum last year! 😉
Keep following the phoenix!
Simone (arp)
May 20, 2009 at 7:33 pm |
I like the story so I will continue! Thanks for being honest!
May 20, 2009 at 7:33 pm |
You’ve put so much work into this – I’m sticking with you 🙂
May 20, 2009 at 7:40 pm |
Wish you came clean via Dark UFO or Lostpedia Blog…Posting a real life entry seems to have spoilt it! I’m sticking around for the ride, it looks well written…
May 20, 2009 at 8:06 pm |
i feel that way too actually….
May 20, 2009 at 7:40 pm |
Much better than last year’s official ARG, please keep it coming!
May 20, 2009 at 7:44 pm |
I’ll keep following you even if it’s not official, I really like the story and appreciate your effort!
May 20, 2009 at 7:44 pm |
i’m really commited by now.
I guess we’ll have 2 find your brother. Many things would have been easier if you came clean earlier but i can understand your not doing so. Thanks for your latest update anyways.
I enjoyed your work so far and hopefully will until this ARG is over.
May 20, 2009 at 7:46 pm |
Did Jenny Balloon ruin it?
May 20, 2009 at 7:50 pm |
Please do keep going! It’s obvious you’ve put a lot of work into it, and we are all enjoying ourselves. Thank You!
May 20, 2009 at 7:55 pm |
Thanks for the wild ride in all of this, it was fun for a few days, I’ll keep checking in and see if there is anything I can do to help
May 20, 2009 at 8:06 pm |
ya know what? i dont care~!! this is really fun~ its simply not “cannon” which is good to know, but i hope you continue. its a game~ i like it, and its hard XD so good work~ (so basically, only elliot graves, simeon hobbes and epitaalpha are in game right??) your sister’s kinda lame for bursting our happy lil bubble lol.
May 20, 2009 at 8:09 pm |
Dude, thanks for coming clean! I was really enjoying and hoping for it to be official! But as long as it is fun, I´ll keep playing it! I don´t care if it´s not official, as long as it´s a cool game!
May 20, 2009 at 8:20 pm |
Awesome job! Thank you for going to all this trouble, it’s great fun. I can’t wait to see how it comes out.
Now get yerself back behind the curtain, so I can resume pretending it’s all for real. 🙂
May 20, 2009 at 8:47 pm |
Game on!
May 20, 2009 at 8:49 pm |
Lead on……
May 20, 2009 at 8:51 pm |
I’m still in, and I think it was great of you to come clean. It’ll let us stop worrying and wondering and now we can really get into it.
It’s really well done so far, and if there’s no official ARG, this will takes it’s place perfectly. Kudos!
May 20, 2009 at 8:55 pm |
as already said before.. thanks for coming clean! I’m in as well.. we’ll have to find Nathaniel!
May 20, 2009 at 8:58 pm |
just look forward
-keep goin’on!
May 20, 2009 at 9:13 pm |
All I have to say is thanks for coming out from behind the curtain, and for all the effort you’ve put in so far. I’m another one in the “sticking with it” camp, just because it’s unofficial doesn’t make it any less fun.
May 20, 2009 at 9:36 pm |
I will keep with the ARG. Lost Season 6 is a very long time away and I need something to do during the gap. Unofficial stuff is fun too.
May 20, 2009 at 9:54 pm |
Even if it’s not canon, it’s still fun. Lead on! 😀
May 20, 2009 at 9:58 pm |
Hey, you might want to reconsider using an active property next time, man. You could have had your whole ARG, complete with all of your BS about disappearing family members and the number 27 and Twitter wild-goose-chasing and whatnot – without ever involving LOST, or the people who really care about the show and are eager to be engaged by TPTB with some answers. The sanctioned ARG’s are considered canon, and you should have disclosed your unofficial status before so many people wasted their time with Latin and Base64 translations. You deliberately took advantage of an unwitting audience, for some half-baked game you made up. TINAG only applies when the game you’re playing has real-world context, and yours is a total sham… You’re no puppetmaster, you’re a liar and, frankly, an intellectual property thief. Go back to Vampire the Masquerade if you’re such a hardcore badass dungeonmaster. You’ve jumped like a parasite onto the back of a long-running series with heavily invested fans, not to mention connections to a television network with extremely deep pockets and armies of attorneys on retainer… and you say you’re a fan? Word of advice: Next time, write a fan fiction novel like the Star Wars geeks. You can have Charlie and Hurley escape the island on a coconut rocket to discover a race of space aliens, because that’s as realistic as your pathetic game ever was. The commenters here may be sticking with you – apparently because they think you’ve worked too hard on this not to hold your hand as you hobble towards the end – but I think you’re an opportunistic dick and karma’s gonna get you. Great idea using Twitter, btw – it let the critical mass of the hoax grow so heavy that you couldn’t manage it anymore and the bottom dropped out. GREAT WORK, puppetmaster! Well thought out, indeed. F’in amateur.
May 21, 2009 at 12:12 am |
This guy’s a prick. You’re doing an amazing job, “Elliott”.
May 21, 2009 at 1:20 am |
Yes, and all those people doing fanart could also make their own original ideas. Same goes for fan comics.
The point is to show your fanhood and have fun. Stop being such a downer.
May 21, 2009 at 2:27 am |
Dude’s got serious mommy issues. You worked hard and got our minds cranking. The show must go on.
May 21, 2009 at 6:56 am |
jeeeeeeze this guy is harsh. I done agree with him at all. I admit I was really hoping this to be lagit, because you made such a great ARG. I was thinking to myself, “Man, this is WAY better then DHARMA WANTS YOU.” If ABC was smart, they would probably hire you. I would. And using Twitter, very smart. so I give you 10/10. Also we have a looooong time until season 6 so heck, why not? Kudos I will be following this through. Keep it up. WHO IS SIMEON HOBBES?
May 21, 2009 at 5:56 pm |
Wow, you’re a tool. I’m guessing you’re just bitter that your time was wasted. ‘Elliott’ had nothing to do with all the Base64 and fake videos, that was the other pricks who hijacked the ARG.
‘Armies of attorneys on retainer’…yeah this guy is in no more danger of getting sued by ABC than people who write fanfiction. He isn’t making money from it therefore the network doesn’t care.
It’s called FUN. Probably been a while since you had any, but I’m sure the concept isn’t entirely unfamiliar to you.
You’re giving Lost fans a bad name. We don’t all bow down to TPTB and some of us are capable of figuring out the answers on our own. I don’t see how this could have affected anyone’s opinion of the show or it’s creators.
I still don’t know who to trust in all this but for the moment I’m going to believe that ‘Elliott’ is an innocent party whose great idea was taken over by opportunistic Twitterers with too much time on their hands.
May 21, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Well said! I concur. Let’s all get drunk and throw feces at the guy smart enough to spell stuff backwards.
May 20, 2009 at 10:15 pm |
how come nobody pointed out the link from the youtube account “thelostexperience” to simeon hobbes? this means the guy behind this thing started planning a long time ago.
May 20, 2009 at 11:30 pm |
i’m sticking with the game..
i don’t care if it is official or not (in fact, last year’s “Project” was awful!!) i just want to have fun..
i figured this out when you said that only those 3 accounts could help you find your brother (and when you added the ‘watching’ section i was completely assured of it).. but obviously there were many fans who wanted to believe in ‘the Enlightened’.. so i understand your step to come out from behind the curtain (although i wouldnt do it on the same blog, but whatever)
hope to see more interesting riddles here and find your brother (if it isn’t too late =)) )
Steff
May 20, 2009 at 11:38 pm |
Lets go, i’m in. I missed TLE so this better be good and judging on the previous stuff it has been…
good luck, lets find your brother!
May 21, 2009 at 12:00 am |
I’m in!
May 21, 2009 at 12:54 am |
Now I can get on board, i want to see where this is going
May 21, 2009 at 1:13 am |
I have to say, I quit following this “lostarg” earlier this morning. It was way too confusing when trying to figure out who was really a part of the game and who wasn’t. Now that I know, I’m going to continue following you. It’s much easier knowing who I should follow and who I should just dismiss. Thanks for telling us, I know that I really appreciate it. And keep the clues coming! 🙂
May 21, 2009 at 2:25 am |
Don’t even sweat it man, we do this to get our minds working and you have clearly done that with a total absence of malice. If you’re willing to keep working, I’m willing to play. GAME ON!!!
May 21, 2009 at 3:05 am |
It must have been a tough decision to come clean. I think you made a good decision because now that people are invested into the story, they can choose to leave or continue. Im definitely continuing with this because from what you have done so far this is going to be great fun. Thanks for doing it brother.
May 21, 2009 at 5:36 am |
It’s cool. I’ll keep following, though it would really be a blast to know who’s “hitching” on your ARG and what content is genuine to the plot 🙂
Thanks and good luck!
May 21, 2009 at 6:21 am |
Well hell, it’s been a blast so far, I don’t see any reason to quit now! I’ve really enjoyed what you’ve done with this ARG, and I will definitely continue to follow it and find out where Elliott’s brother went.
Oh, and nice job naming yourself after the main character in the Lost Via Domus video game. I hadn’t seen anyone mention that yet 😀
May 21, 2009 at 7:34 am |
To take a line from your blog “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Keep it going!
May 21, 2009 at 8:34 am |
Two thoughts I’ve had:
1. I find it funny and brilliant that while there was still the prospect of this all being ‘official’, certain people felt it was fair game to hijack the story with their own agendas and false trails. But now we know it’s one person working very, very hard, all the usurpers have owned up and stopped their charade. That shows a lot of respect to you and what you’re trying to do – more respect than was paid to the idea of an ‘official’ ARG!!
2. When reading up about the last official ARG ‘Find 815’ I came across this on Lostpedia:
“Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have stated on record that Find 815 is not in the Lost canon, the implication being that anything new presented in the game is only relevant to the alternate reality of the game and not to the show itself”.
So how on earth is the any different from the ‘real’ thing?!
May 21, 2009 at 8:53 am |
I don’t care if this is not official.
It’s more interesting that the last one official ARG.
Hi from italy.
May 21, 2009 at 12:01 pm |
am really getting in 2 this so come on post more
May 21, 2009 at 4:40 pm |
Sure the creator didn’t deserve all the insults that were posted here, but guys, please think about it two seconds:
-He intentionally let people think it was official, remember the fake thelostexperience” youtube channel created in may 2006 ? This means he deliberately lied to you all. He didn’t get caught in the hype, he just plotted it years ago. Are you sure you all just want to “thank” him while he literally toyed with you ?
-don’t forget that because of his total inexperience, it all got out of hand so quickly (Twitter accounts are so easy to create, he didn’t think once about the consequences) and he linked to an unrelated website (the 27project) that ended up hacked ! How can some of you think it was “well planned” and that he “should be hired by ABC”, when he carelessly involved a website that had nothing to do with him ?
-Please also realise that hadn’t the site been hacked, this guy would have probably continued his silly game. He didn’t come clean for you, naive players, he did it because he didn’t want troubles with the owner of the site. if it were not for that, you would probably still be wasting your time thinking there is something canon at the end of it.
May 21, 2009 at 5:10 pm |
The website wasn’t hacked so no harm no foul there – it was the owner deliberately playing along.
May 21, 2009 at 5:43 pm |
As already stated, the owner of the project27 website was the one that linked ‘lostarg’ related info and hid base64 code. No one hacked the site. He’s done nothing wrong. And as I’ve already said, I’m totally in.
May 21, 2009 at 4:53 pm |
Lighten up guys; it’s all for entertainment. Don’t let it shatter your fragile LOST world…The guy worked his a$$ off to give us a little bit to wrap our heads around and some of you are acting like he slapped a nun.
Don’t take life so seriously… no one gets out alive, right? (someone said that, dont feel like looking it up). Any way go out and get a beer or something and chill out.
PS, the 27 project site wasn’t a mistake it was part of the whole thing
May 21, 2009 at 5:19 pm |
People, even official ARGs have some problems with canon. (Think a out Cloverfield ones). So please don’t worry, whether it’s according the LOST universe or not. Let’s enjoy the game.
And don’t forget: last official LOST ARG failed because of financial crisis. Because it was commercial ARG. So let’s just play this game. [Closing META curtain again]
May 21, 2009 at 5:34 pm |
I’m in! I’ve tried to keep up from the start (around work) and lost a lot of hours sleep!! But in my opinion that just shows what an involving and creative piece of storytelling this has been! Good on ya dude!
Keep it up!
May 21, 2009 at 6:28 pm |
Totally in! Come on Elliot, let us help you find your brother! whether he’s in kashyyyk or not!
May 21, 2009 at 10:42 pm |
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit (…)”
to serve the greatest of all matters
May 22, 2009 at 3:04 am |
Onwards and upwards, let’s find your brother! … We’ll do this in the name of ille qui nos omnes servabit.
May 22, 2009 at 3:04 am |
Or for fun. Either way, l’m in. 🙂
May 22, 2009 at 3:12 am |
We’re all waiting semi-patiently Elliott. Please don’t give up now. We’re loving it! 😉
May 22, 2009 at 8:50 am |
I have to say thanks for coming clean..
and bravo- this ARG is so much better than the offical ones, I really like the story so far and its obvious you have put in a lot of time and effort- for our entertainment- again this is so AWESOME.. and dont worry about the haters..they have serious mental health issues! mwahahahahaha (aka evil laugh)
keep it up..
May 22, 2009 at 9:42 am |
Well done… In my case, i’ve never played to an entire Lost ARG, because i’m french and there are many videos which are not subtitled (so i can’t understand some of them).
The blog and twitter elements were very good ideas. As a paranoid android, i’ll keep asking myself if we’re subjects of a Dharma experiment on source credibility…
I’ll try to keep on too.
July 8, 2009 at 3:25 pm |
The Eggman is one of us…
good game.