Methods of Revolution [Day 21]
Synopsis
You have chosen to obey and stay in your hotel room, and sure enough your safety was guaranteed. What's more, it appears that you've been given an opportunity to play a mysterious Nintendo 64 game with the promise of "more entertainment" on the way. Abel swears that no harm will come to you as long as you stay within the confines of your room, and the opportunities arrive to delve deeper into this familiar cartridge. Who knows, maybe some long lost answers will be finally uncovered the deeper you delve into the fabled Haunted Majora's Mask game. This is just a viable path as deciding to leave your room an explore the hotel - albeit much less dangerous.
However.
Time is ticking, the more time you spend going deeper within the cartridge chasing BEN, the less time time you will have to interact with events that happen in the "real world" and vice versa. The further you pursue BEN the more information you will uncover about the original 2010 phenomena, while the further you explore the hotel bigger elements will be at play. There are time-sensitive opportunities in both worlds and while an immediate choice is not required at this time - there will eventually be a point where the community will have to decide to pursue one lead or the other.
A vote will take place tonight and last until tomorrow at 8pm EST for the next course of action.
Next Chapter: Methods of Revolution [Ben.wmv]
Previous Chapter: Methods of Revolution [Day 11]
2020-05-23 22:00:02 +0000 UTC
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What will you decide? Things to keep in mind:
- The day schedule is not meant to be 1:1 to our world, and is instead on a 7 day cycle. only influencing the date of when the next video takes place.
- It was possible, although unlikely, to complete this part of the story with just the original MC. Mistakes are anticipated - it's all part of the fun in figuring out the rules of this strange place. However it is important to be careful going forward - the amount of main characters is not infinite.
- The protagonists have subtle differences between them, personality wise.
- The Live Event of interfacing further with the Methods site is tied directly to progress made in the hotel, for story purposes.
- It is worth noting that Abel is his own character with his own motives and is not meant to be an out of character proxy. If his personality seems different after the death of the MC, there may be more to that.
- There will be an opportunity to recover MC's belongings from the second floor.
- When in doubt, don't be hasty now.
2020-05-17 17:33:31 +0000 UTC
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Methods of Revolution [Day 11]
Synopsis
The MC has chosen to leave on Day 11, ultimately falling victim to the roaming Jailer. In his final moments, players watching through the MC's eyes saw a bizarre digitization effect while the screen cut to familiar static. What could this signify?
As we jump ahead several days, we see a young woman wake up in the same room that the MC briefly inhabited. She barely has time to gather her bearings before a frustrated Abel appears on the radio to admonish her. The MC had managed to safely make it to the second floor, but further attempts to traverse the hotel met with failure. What could be missing from the equation and what will this new character decide to do differently?
As the discord server lights up with heated debate over the next course of action, a vote will be held at 12pm on Sunday to determine our new protagonist's next course of action.
The stakes have been raised, and caution must be exercised going forward.
Things to Keep in Mind
- It was possible, although unlikely, to complete this part of the story with just the original MC. Mistakes are anticipated - it's all part of the fun in figuring out the rules of this strange place. However it is important to be careful going forward - the amount of main characters is not infinite.
- The protagonists have subtle differences between them, personality wise.
- The Live Event of interfacing further with the Methods site is tied directly to progress made in the hotel, for story purposes.
- It is worth noting that Abel is his own character with his own motives and is not meant to be an out of character proxy. If his personality seems different after the death of the MC, there may be more to that.
- There will be an opportunity to recover MC's belongings from the second floor.
- When in doubt, don't be hasty.
Next Chapter: Methods of Revolution [Day 21]
Previous Chapter: Exploring the Ethereal Hotel
2020-05-16 23:09:41 +0000 UTC
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Methods of Revolution [Day 6] -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM74MtnOi0k&feature=youtu.be
Grabbing a flashlight, a notepad, and a model head, you make your way to the second floor on Day 6 - encountering an even more bizarre environment in this seemingly deserted hotel. You can't help but think you hear voices coming from some of the rooms as you walk the empty hallway. You find another seemingly empty room - again appearing to be occupied by your predecessor. She's left behind a map as well as some additional notes for you - it appears that she was in the process of investigating different locations in the hotel before she was interrupted. What could she mean by these?
There's something outside preventing you from leaving today, so you will have to plan your escape on a different day. If you choose to leave you will have to select a location on the map to visit from here. What do you do?
2020-05-09 22:31:16 +0000 UTC
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In the final decision before the story continues, when do you decide to leave your room? This decision impacts the progression of the next video and carries a much bigger risk than choosing which items to take - this is the first choice in the story that can impact the mortality of the MC. The day schedule is not meant to be 1:1 to our world, and is instead on a 7 day cycle. only influencing the date of when the next video takes place.
The last video ended on the third day. The winning day is when the next video takes place.
For example - if Day 5 is the winning vote, the MC will spend two more nights in the room before leaving on the fifth day. If Stay wins, the MC will wait out the entire week in the room.
2020-05-02 21:39:19 +0000 UTC
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The top three winners of this poll will determine the items that the main character takes with them going forward. For more information on what each item's purpose is, visit http://www.methodsofrevolution.com
2020-04-30 22:30:01 +0000 UTC
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Synopsis
Methods of Revolution [Day 1]
The dreams have stopped. You are awake now in a strange hotel room. How did you get here? What is this place? Where are you? All you have to go off of is a man over the radio calling himself Abel - who cryptically outlines the rules of this place for you. But can you even trust him? Time operates abnormally here and object permanence is not what it should be. What's more, there is an entity that unrelentingly patrols the hallways - only known as the Jailer at this point - that cannot be harmed, reasoned with, or destroyed by conventional means. It clearly must be avoided at all costs. In your starting room you notice that several items have been left behind by your predecessor. What could be the significance of these?
Methods of Revolution [Day 3]
It is becoming apparent that there is a wealth of information to be gained here that will shed light on your environment, the true nature of BEN, and even The Father itself, but in your short time here it will be impossible to discover it all. Sacrifices for progression must be made and the players must make the most of their decisions. What you decide to take with you is just as important as when you decide to leave. It is recommended players go back through the notes that the main character found to try and find any hints about the area you find yourself in, you can find the main character flipping through each page of notes in Methods of Revolution [Day 1].
Choosing Items
Should you decide to explore the hotel, without any kind of backpack you will only be able to take three items with you. The items you decide to take will determine your toolset and what you can find as you explore this ethereal hotel. These decisions will impact your story, survival chance, and what you are able to find. There are no wasted items or wrong choices here, but some items will naturally have more use than others. Items will automatically be used if the appropriate situation presents itself without prompt by the consensus (i.e. if the main character encounters a dimly lit room and has chosen to bring the flash light, they will automatically use it). You can find more information about the items and their potential uses by hovering over them individually on the Methods of Revolution website.
Player Consequence
In this phase, it is extremely important to note that the main character can die - and with their death any potential new information to be gained from this part of the story will be lost forever. The likelihood of the main character surviving to the end is low, as it cannot be overstated enough the danger that lies outside of the room. It is critical to remember that you are in a completely foreign environment with no idea what to expect. All you know is that you are safe in your current room, someone new has appeared in the room adjacent to you on Day 3, and then was subsequently snatched by a mysterious entity. But if players have a calm and prudent consensus that can analyzes their environment, use clues from past videos, and have a keen eye for detail, the main character will at least have the best chance at navigating the hotel, avoiding the Jailer, and reaching the top floor.
However, staying within your established parameters is also a valid choice. Your safest place is in your starting room and will guarantee the main character's survival. If you choose to venture outside, your first destination will be a pre-determined attempt to reach the second floor. If you are successful, a floor plan will be made available to you that you can then plan your routes carefully as you explore the hotel.
Voting Period
Because these items are important for determining the entire direction of this part of the story, the voting will not begin immediately - this gives each player ample time to discuss among themselves and weigh the pros and cons of each value of the potential items. It is important for any one group to not monopolize discussion and to do their best to hear out all possible viewpoints. Failure to work together will almost certainly spell doom for the survival of the main character. A vote will be called 24 hours after this post goes up in which the consensus will decide on the three items to bring and the day in which the main character leaves his room (or if they choose to leave at all).
Discord
We've reached over 1150 active members on our Discord! Viewers that want to take a more active role in the story are encouraged to join the server to take part in the discussion and debate on which items to take, as well as theorize and analyze clues. The story can obviously still be enjoyed as a passive viewer, but taking a more active role in the ARG helps to get the most out of the experience. As a reminder, be kind to each other and respect rules + moderation staff. There will be a lot of newer players wanting to join in and contribute theories of their own, so let's do our best to encourage them. It bares repeating that this part of the story is a blank slate, so everyone will be on even footing here - everyone's ideas are just as valid no matter how long you've been following the story.
Next Chapter: Methods of Revolution [Day 11]
2020-04-29 22:35:00 +0000 UTC
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The Father Revealed
In the original story, Jadusable's fate was left ambiguous at the end, but now due to the tampering and infection of the Methods file repository and what appeared to be an inner conflict in BEN itself, new footage was presented to us on the original Jadusable account - letting us see what happened after the end of the original jadusable.wmv video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymWm0O51iG0
As Jadusable delved deeper into the darkest recesses of the cartridge, despite ignoring the warnings from the voices in the game itself, he finally found what he was looking for in the edge of the game's existence - The Father. He appeared before Jadusable in his true form - not using a representation within the game itself anymore - and opened his eyes to stare through the avatar at the player behind it. Jadusable was only able to gaze dumbfounded at the monolith's eldritch face before he was consumed and killed.
A few hours later another vulnerability opened up on the Methods of Revolution website, allowing players to quickly access the site and save/backup as much as they could from what had changed. Players found several cryptic audio codes, and the opportunity to "awaken the second player,". Although there was some dissent in the consensus, the players ultimately voted to awaken the second player. Who or what that it is, though, remains to be seen.
The cycle has been broken, and now it appears that The Father's face sits resting again at the home page of Methods of Revolution. What could this signify?
Entering the Second Phase
As we conclude the first phase of Awakening - for now - we begin to move the story forward in a different mediums. It should be said here plainly as a disclaimer that there will be real life locations being filmed. I know how passionate and methodical some players can be, so to help ensure good working relationships with the cast and crew, it is important to note that there will never be any hidden clues gained by doxxing these locations or trying to figure out where they are geographically. The same goes for actors appearing as well. These are meant to take place in a fictitious world.
Catch-up Mechanics
We are going to be working on a more streamlined and effective way to bring new and returning players up to speed, and part of that will be a website that will be rolling out sometime this month. While we have a wonderfully comprehensive timeline created by CircleHunter that is an invaluable resources for the hardcore players, the sheer size of it can be overwhelming to newcomers. We are in need of people who are able to help grow the community - either by creating easy and informative summary videos or info-graphics. If you think you can help, please send me a PM on Twitter or reach out to the mods on Discord.
Discord / What's Your Mask Contest
We're less than fifty members away from having 1,000 concurrent members on our Discord! We've recently updated the #server-rules so be sure to check those out, and help flesh out some of the other channels.
We're currently having a What's Your Mask Contest, a non-canon event where users can create custom made masks and submit pictures of them to be entered in a prize pool (win Steam games, cosmetic rewards in the ARG, etc).
This is a great chance to form gaming communities, share your own artwork/creations in #art-gallery, or take part in one of our many contests! If there is a channel that we don't have that you think would be a good addition to the server, reach out to a moderator. As always, any concerns you might have with the server you can always reach me on Twitter.
2020-04-14 23:38:58 +0000 UTC
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4/4/20 Live Event -
Not only did players finally get to see what CHILDREN.wmv and TheRealTruth.rtf were - in a sense - but they solved the second riddle and bypassed a speedbump in getting to the next part of the story. Hopefully this was an engaging twist on a traditional checkpoint that didn't depend on a select few people solving ciphers (although there will be more of that soon), but rather a collective group of people paying close attention to the context of what was being shown. In quick summary, the Methods of Revolution website was opened back up for a brief period, featuring several new files - one of which was a modified version of the original 2010 document TheTruth. Soon after, players saw mysterious images flash on the website while a poll was presented to them presenting their next three options: Run, Fight, or Hide. These images were reminiscent of an entry in TheTruth of a nightmare Jadusable had in which gave hints about which actions proved to be ineffective against the entities. A heated debate broke out in the discord with both sides arguing which option should prevail, but ultimately Hide won. You can find a moment to moment recap of the live event here.
Discord Update
The Awakening discord has reached 800+ members now - and we couldn't be happier. I'm excited at the opportunity to build a great community and stay in touch with each other during the quarantine. These next few months are going to be rather crazy, and I'm glad that this ARG can be a suitable distraction - so try and be good to each other, yeah? Again, it's a crazy amount of growth in such a short time period and we're doing our best to acclimate as best as we can - we are bringing on several new mods as well. If you have any issues that cannot be solved by a moderator or administrative suggestions for layouts (i.e. adding new chat channels), please DM Jadusable directly on Twitter.
Progression Caps
If it wasn't clear on the previous event, when the Methods of Revolution site goes down that typically marks a cap on the progression for this time. As of now, the big live events are coordinated towards the weekends - involving the Methods website updating and the .wmv files dropping. Weekday updates will involve .txt files for now until a point is reached in the story.
Good luck!
2020-04-07 23:15:26 +0000 UTC
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Story Progression Timing
As we begin a new month we've been listening to feedback from players wanting the story to be more accessible in terms of time availability and made a few changes. We know our audience digs pretty deep into clues and will spend a lot of time turning over every leaf if given the opportunity, and we want to be responsible/respectful of your time and energy.
In order for this story to best reach its audience, we will continue the content release schedule of every three days until a certain point in the story, but going forward we will orchestrate things so that big reveals and live game events happen closer to the weekends to convenience the audience as much as possible. The discovery of the Methods of Revolution website coincidentally happened to occur on a Saturday night and saw active participation of hundreds of users. We'd like to keep that kind of rhythm directed towards the weekends, as even though the majority of the country is quarantined at home, we know of a few dozen of our player-base have essential jobs and aren't as time flexible. As it stands now, you can still expect significant story updates when the three day cycle to fall on weekdays, but the more in-depth interactive content & events (like the discovery of the Methods site) will take place when the cycle lands on a weekend.
Discord Moderation Policy
We're excited to announce that the Awakening discord has reached 600+ members since Awakening has started! That's an incredible amount of growth in such a short time period and we're doing our best to acclimate. We've added roughly 8 new moderators to the roster to keep up with demand and we're implementing a new policy to ensure that the server is managed fairly both to the users and the moderators. The new progression of disciplinary action will be as follows: warning on first offense, kicked from the server on the second, and finally ban on the third offense. Banning is meant to be a last resort for people who continue to violate the rules and after seven days you will have the opportunity to appeal your ban. If you have any issues with the moderation staff, please DM Jadusable directly on Twitter.
Progression Caps
We are also working on an appropriate way to signify when all available clues have been found to "call off the dogs", so to speak. You will likely know the manner this weekend when we have our second live event.
Good luck!
2020-04-01 22:23:03 +0000 UTC
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On March 28th, a new resource was unlocked thanks to the efforts of the community. After deciphering the hints hidden in binary and the data retrieved from a spectrogram, the combined efforts of the community piecing together clues ultimately led to user Rytikula unlocking the next part of the game - revisiting the abandoned Methods of Revolution website. It was just in time - barely over 24 hours remained before the next story progression was set to occur, and it would have been disastrous had it not been interrupted.
Instead of the usual splash page for the film, users instead found a repository of broken file links in a cobbled together directory. Digging deeper, it was discovered that there was an option to change the action that the character does in the next video, although how these two resources are able to influence one another is still a mystery.
Immediately users began sharing the link throughout the discord, online threads, and Youtube videos to spread the word that the next step had been unlocked. What occurred soon after at 8:30pm CST was a live event of something discovering that users had accessed this abandoned repository. It quickly turned into a race-against-time as archivists worked to catalog as much as they could of the website before it was shut down.
The Archived Website
You will be able to find records of what was uncovered in those few vulnerable moments on the discord here before the website was taken down. There were certain pictures and chat logs that were excavated from the scattered code of the website that may prove useful. As the story moves forward, it will become apparent that the puzzles are not always a matter of codebreaking or technical analysis - some will involve logic riddles and critical thinking. The goal behind this approach is to involve as many different people and skillsets as possible, not just those who are technically proficient. In some instances, piecing together the plot ahead of time might give players an opportunity to anticipate what is going to happen - which may have its own benefits down the line.
In an effort for archival purposes the website has been temporarily restored to a snapshot of the day before, before the intrusion was detected. It is important to note that there are no additional hidden materials to find at this point (and the few unique details that showed up during the live event were time sensitive and no longer available). When the website progresses further keep in mind that creative, outside-the-box methods of finding hidden files are encouraged and expected - as long as it stops short of actually hacking/brute-forcing the website itself.
Moving Forward
As we finish our first big live event, there will still be kinks to work out in order to try and reach the most amount of viewers possible - as we're aware that many people live in different timezones. One of the many things I hear from people is that they wish they could have been there to see what it was like when the Moon Children website was going through its 3 day cycle, and we're attempting to take steps to try and make this more approachable for newcomers. Due to the dynamic, real-time nature of the story its hard to anticipate when players will trigger live events (such as this one), but we'll do our best to funnel them towards the weekends when more people are likely to be on. We also have users working on a Google doc timeline (created by user Eevee Reborn) that summarizes events for those who missed them.
At this stage of the story you likely have more questions than answers, but rest assured that the players have taken a definitive step closer to piecing together the bigger mystery behind the true nature of BEN.
2020-03-29 06:13:59 +0000 UTC
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Welcome to players, both returning and new in general to the final chapter of BEN Drowned.
New and Returning Players:
The final chapter of the BEN Drowned story is being told through YouTube videos, audio engineering, digital archeology, and some other surprises along the way. As we progress, the significance of some data points may not be readily apparent - that is normal. In keeping true to one of the reoccurring themes of Awakening, there will be times when older entries have a significance that is only brought to light after new information has emerged. The content itself may not have changed, but rather, new context will have given it new meaning.
This may be a lot of information to process for returning players, but there are plenty of tools in place created by the community to assist. When catching up, it's best to start simple - feel free to join the discord of the ARG and ask for clarification. You don't need to have a complete understanding of previous events immediately to start playing, others will be able to clue you in as you go along. Most of the bigger events are summarized here in the Patreon as the story progresses.
If you want to get more in depth - Here is a Google Doc, created by the fans, of the timeline of the story so far. In addition, you can also look into the fan wiki here.
This is a slower, more psychological approach than the original story - the timeline for this is much longer than the original story. Due to some of the psychological themes it explores, it's recommended for participants to be 18+.
Patreon is 100% optional
It is important to reiterate that this is a way to show support if you enjoyed the original BEN Drowned story or are enjoying Awakening. Patrons here are not given any kind of unique information or "advantage" to anyone else. Becoming a patron will not accelerate the release of content, nor is a certain threshold required to be met for the story to conclude. The goal of this page is to provide a way for users to support the work, should they be so inclined. There are unique benefits to being a patron that will be reflected in the story some time later, tier depending, but they are not required to get the full experience of the story. An apt way to compare it would be akin to receiving a cosmetic item in a game like League of Legends - it confers no actual "gameplay" advantages.
Additional Information
Timeline wise, every three days the story will progress forward. This is intentional.
Although the author's discord can be found here, and although that seems to be the main place that theorists congregate there is no official discord for discussion and theories. No unique information will ever be posted there, so users are not missing out by opting for a different server. The reason for this is to not monopolize the discussion area, but rather to encourage organic communities to be created.
Finally, to prevent gamejacking, links to any external websites to progress the story will come only from either the Jadusable Youtube account , the author's Twitter account, or this Patreon account. There will be a clear path to identifying the sources of information - as for the information itself, that may prove to be a little trickier. This is to reduce confusion and save time of meticulously combing through other unrelated endeavors that the author has done since. At some point, another platform will be introduced that will be canonical to the story, and this post will be updated to reflect that.
And as always, good luck. Enjoy the story.
2020-03-20 16:31:26 +0000 UTC
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