Sunday, August 24, 2008

The Lost ARGs Podcast #4 - Do Or Die Cast 104

Join hosts David A. Dein and Steve 'The Goog' Guglich as they give you a weekly update on the LOST ARG at DharmaWantsYou.com. This week David and the Goog discuss Hoodlum, Aunt Beru, eating Kobe Beef, and what that has to do with James T. Kirk and cheating.

If you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, have any theories, discover any clues, or just want to say "Hi!", contact podcast@lostargs.com (mp3 comments are accepted as well), or leave a voice mail or fax at (206) 202-3512.

Listen now:






Download (right-click, save as)

You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, by clicking the iTunes logo, or searching for "Lost ARGs" in the iTunes store.



Also you can help David with his unofficial poll, by e-mailing your answers to these questions.
  • What is your Blogger name & DWY name?
  • How old are you?
  • What is your sex?
  • Where are you from?
  • Are you in the Pandora or Ganymede group?
  • What score did you receive on the Test?
  • Did you use the Space Bar Cheat?

104 comments:

Tess315 said...

First!
Haven't had a chance to do that in awhile.

Tess315 said...

I've already listened to the podcast it's pretty funny.

maven said...

Good podcast, guys! I, too, am hoping that there will be more to this thing than just weekly cheating tests!

David A Dein said...

BTW, The Lost Community Book Club Episode The Lord of the flies is up!!!

Check it out @ thelostcommunity.com

Ange said...

Heading to listen now. Looks like I have two to check out...

Congested said...

YAY! (as always)

Ellen said...

I'm here! Just sent email with answers to questions in post...now going to listen to the podcast! I'm sure it's great as always!
xxoo

Ellen said...

email...

Nickb123 said...

Hey guys! Loving the podcast!

TLE was written by Jordan Rosenberg and Javi (I can't spell that man's name), but the sites were actually produced by a company, called Hi-ReS! - widely accepted as awesome people. Check them out at Lostpedia.

As for Hoodlum, I agree people think its gonna be too much like TLE, whereas I think Find 815 and the Project are different sorts of things. It isn't the same format at all, I think its much more linear and self-contained on a single site - its more just a bit of fun for fans, I don't think it intends to be a great interactive experience.

Nickb123 said...

Oh and P.S. - if you're defending Hoodlum, should you be calling them "Hoodlum"? Isn't that a sign that this ARG is sucky if you're happy breaking wall 4 continuously lol? Like shouldn't we be referring to them as "the powers that be".

ochabelly said...

Sent my email! :D

Tess315 said...

Morning all
DWY has a new leader board. There's no one I recognize on it though.

Thrasher76 said...

Nick, valid points. Once I had heard who was running the game and that they had run the previous I was optimistic. But then we went like a week and half without anything since it started. I think that is when people started breaking the 4th wall and bringing them up by name. Anything Lost related is cool in my book. But at what cost? To make a suckfest such as this is unacceptable.

Love the podcast, I sent my email as well. It felt like an online AA meeting! LOL

Matthew Haywood said...

great podcast

David A Dein said...

In hoodlum's defense the first month or so of THE LOST EXPERIENCE had no real narritive story, in fact most of the puzzles took place on one website,(with the exception of DJDAN.am), in fact the Narrative story didn't really start until we met Rachel Blake. I think it's too early to tell whether this ARG is bad. Everybody is complaining about how slow the game is, and I've said this before, but I'd rather have a game that starts slow and ends with a bang than what happened with the TLE. A great game that was sidelined by the horrible Glyph hunt, everyone was complaining about the same things.



In the end it's a silly game and

Nickb123 said...

TLE did recover though after the glyph hunt, and in my opinion went out with a bang. I disagree with the point about TLE having nothing until phase 2 as well - as even if the stuff it was revealing gave us little about the show, they did give us a lot of info about who the Hanso execs were and how their projects were corrupt. Even though this was irregardless to the main show's narrative in a way, it was still information expanding narrative. So far, this ARG has given us little in the way of actual STORYTELLING. Tests and puzzles don't expand the narrative, and that is what we're lacking.

MadAriad said...

Sent my info to the podcast email....
I think it will pick up as it goes on. This is the first ARG I've done, and I'm not too impressed yet, but I think it will get more interesting.
Thanks for the podcast - that was great!

lost2010 said...

I think another main difference, is that in TLE, it felt like Sprite, Jeep, etc. were sponsoring a game for the Lost fans.

In this one, it feels like the game is the advertising. . .if that makes sense.

Dennis said...

You can already register for Comic-Con 2009.

Capcom said...

True Lost2010. It also made it feel as if those companies were baddies like Hanso, since e.g., Jeep was helping with the organ deliveries, and Sprite was doing the evil additive thing with the drinks, like Apollo bars. At first I kind of hated the commercial interference, but then as they wove it into the story, it seemed pretty well done and kind of fun.

TheRoog said...

Great podcast. I enjoyed myself immensely.

TheRoog said...

Anybody else fill out the survey?

maven said...

Question: Has the FAQ tab on the bottom of DWY always been there? It is for technical problems such as having trouble getting on the site, and not getting email, etc.

Dennis said...

I've never seen it before. That's nice that they are doing that.

TakesaVillage said...

I like how they said,Don't ask questions like Where is the Island?

TakesaVillage said...

And yes, I filled out the survey too.

Beverly said...

Thanks for the info about BSWY. I'm just now getting back to reading the posts. I've spent the entier day packing. I probably won't be online again for 2 weeks as I don't konw what kind ofinternet access I'll have while I'm away on vacation (leaving tomorrow).

So far this ARG isn't any fun at all. I'm actually remembering the glyphhunt with a bit of nostalgia. That was much more fun than this.

I guess it's just as well. I haven't had time to participate over the past week and won't be participating much, if at all over the next 2.

I hope things will get more exciting by the time I get back.

Black Swan said...

I see it's been super busy here today...... NOT! lol That FAQ link at the bottom of DWY is interesting and I never saw it before today.

Black Swans!!!!!! Good News! We finally have our myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/blackswanwantsyou

(Stop by and let me know what you think. I have included a blog section.)

Beverly said...

I know I'm late to the party on this one but -- Josh Holloway's commercial -- drool...

Capcom said...

Have fun on your vacay, Losit! we'll miss ya! :-D

Capcom said...

Nice Codysmom!!!! Really great!

What software do you use to make your graphics? Tx.

:-)

Tess315 said...

I love it codysmom! Great job!
Have an nice vacation lostit!

Black Swan said...

Have fun on your trip, lostit! I doubt you'll be missing much with DDWY

sayid'sgirl and capcom, thanks!

capcom, I used a program called "Collage Creator" that came with my Unibind machine. (The unibind is a machine that heat-seals the resin photo books like they do at Kodak.com)

TakesaVillage said...

Codysmom;
Very nice.
Lostit;
Have a safe trip,and enjoy every minute. Maybe Dharma Wants You will have their act together when you get back.

Scoutpost said...

Evening everyone. I can't get onto the myspace/Black Swan page. :( I put that block on my computer and thought I had taken it off, but I guess I did something wrong. I'll have to check again.

I agree with you Nick about what all you've said about this ARG. I wish the producers had gotten the same guys who did TLE and The Beast to do this one. I heard a lot of good things about The Beast. So it will be interesting to see what will become of this ARG. I hope it will be good, it's just off to an amazingly slow start, it's lost all momentum.

Scoutpost said...

Oh, thanks Dennis for the Comic con 2009 info. I came really close to going to the one this year, but just didn't take the plunge. But I really think I will go next year since it will be LOST's last season there. Let me know if any of you want to go with me! (I'm really serious)

Capcom said...

Tx for the info Codysmom, your graphix look good. :-)

Anonymous said...

glad you liked the pic with the kids. i think dufo misunderstood. they're hoodlum avoiding updating.

they're sleepy due to juiceboxes and recess.

maven said...

Codysmom: Thanks for friending me on MySpace with Black Swan! You did a great job on the page!

Have a great vacation, Losit! I have a feeling you won't miss much here. Maybe we should all leave for 2 weeks! Maybe DWY will miss us!

Dennis said...

Hi Speaker!

Black Swan said...

Hey, Speaker! What's up? Are you here because you heard of Black Swan?

maven, thanks!

Anonymous said...

No, I was doing my weekly google search for "Kobayashi Maru" mentions and stumbled across this fine place.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!?

Black Swan said...

hmmmmmm, I don't know much about Kobayashi Maru since I'm not really a Star Trek fan, so I had to wiki... interesting stuff. What's this about tests? Are you trying to tell us something? I gotta read more....

Black Swan said...

like a catch 22?..... still reading...

Anonymous said...

Oh, no - not trying to tell you anything. Just dropping in to say hi before bed.

I was more interested in the old TLE talk, myself. :)

G'night!

Black Swan said...

well, ok then, good night! nice to see you!

maven said...

Nice to see Speaker checking us out! I think our fame is spreading! LOL

Black Swan said...

maven, I think he's giving us a hint....

from the urban dictionary:

Kobayashi Maru

from the urban dictionary:

1. Kobayashi Maru
A no-win situation caused by a set of rules that can only be won by changing the rules, in effect, cheating. This term comes from the name of a small ship in distress in a scenario shown in a Star Trek movie. According to the film, the scenario is featured in a training simulator for students attempting to become ship's captains. They receive a distress signal from the Kobayashi Maru and can either attempt to rescue it and be destroyed by enemy forces or leave it and let it be destroyed. James T. Kirk, according to the film, is the only person to have won the scenario--by reprogramming the simulator. Kobayashi Maru, loosely translated, means "Little wooden ship."
Someone experiencing a Kobayashi Maru can be said to be between a rock and a hard place.
by Kidduffah Tubes Jul 4, 2004

2. Kobayashi Maru
A no-win situation or scenario, in which every action is effectively countered by a force either seen or unseen.
We can stay in this burning plane or jump, but we don't have any parachutes. What a Kobayashi Maru.

Black Swan said...

The Kobayashi Maru scenario is a test given to command-track line officer Starfleet cadets, but not science officers. It is a test of character to see what a potential captain would do in a no-win scenario


Kobayashi Maru
Saavik: "Sir, may I ask you a question?"
Kirk: "What's on your mind, Lieutenant?"
Saavik: "The Kobayashi Maru, sir."
Kirk: "Are you asking me if we're playing out that scenario now?"
Saavik: "On the test, sir. Will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know."
McCoy: "Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario."
Saavik: "How?"
Kirk: "I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship."
Saavik: "What?"
David: "He cheated."
Kirk: "I changed the conditions of the test. Got a commendation for original thinking. I don't like to lose."

EmeraldIsLost said...

i've changed my mind about the cheat. As it in no way affected the groups we got put in, i think that IT WAS our clue.

Tess315 said...

Morning All
I'm sneeking on my daughters laptop while she's at school.
I had another monitor die on me. I've only had it since May. So I don't know how often I can be on today.
Anyway, in the last podcast either Steve or David brought up the Kobayashi Maru when they were talking about the spacebar cheat.

Anonymous said...

Nope, nope - no hints from me! I'm merely a spectator this time around!

I was just giddy with geeky glee that Steve (or was it David?) name checked the K.M. on the podcast. :)

Tess315 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tess315 said...

WOW!
Am I missing another post again?
Or has nobody really posted all day?
Somebody out there let me know you're alive. :)

Black Swan said...

I'm here, sayid'sgirl!!!!! Glad to have you as a friend at Black Swan!

maven said...

Good try on the "hint" from Speaker, Codysmom! There just has to be more to this DWY thing than meets the eye!

Black Swan said...

I finally got around to hearing the whole podcast. Great job!

Yes, speaker, it was Steve (the goog) who brought up the K.M. on the podcast. And yes, goog, test 1 on DDWY does remind me of the Kobayashi Maru (now that I know what that is).

If the question is to cheat or not to cheat I think you have to take into account that the cheat was built in to the DWY website. So whoever put it there is the one who should be asking himself if that is ethical. At this point, we don't know who our hacker is and we also don't know their motives, so who do we trust? Personally, I don't trust this new DI and I don't especially like Hans Van Eeghan. He isn't forthcoming enough about what we, as volunteers, will be volunteering for. All we know so far is what was translated back when we were registering of the lady's voice in a foreign language:

"Those who come to the Dharma Initiative will have to travel a long way across the sea at a considerable speed. Work will include being outdoors and physical labor. You may also experience some [instability of time along the way]. Hopefully you, like many others, feel that your social duty is more important than your personal safety."

Outdoor physical labor and experience instability of time for what the DI says is my social duty??? aaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

I think from ruckusguy's video we know that it's Chang who wants the reconstitution of the DI so they can rewrite history and avoid the purge. But don't we know that Chang is a sneaky guy with numerous alias' who hides what is really going on at the hatches?

Black Swan said...

maven, thanks! I agree that "There just has to be more to this DWY thing than meets the eye!"

Tess315 said...

Oh thank goodness!
I thought I was losing it. lol
My monitor was acting up this morning and thought maybe something else was wrong. All's good now.
I'm tweeking my myspace page a bit put some infor on there. I'm not very good at things like that so it will probably be pretty bare for the most part.

Black Swan said...

I'm working on Black Swan's myspace getting new "friends" and going to post a new blog subject. I'll count on you guys to know if something new is at DDWY..

Capcom said...

Thanks for posting that translation again, Codysmom. It reminds me a LOT of the attitude of The Others, now that I re-think about it.

All the main Others that we got to know, Dan, Patchy, Klugh, etc., all acted so weird, like they cared more about the island/Jacob, than about their own lives...something that we still haven't gotten a definite explanation for yet. And some of them, like Patchy, were supposedly recruits.

Makes me wonder if the New DI is founded by these guys, and not the original Hanso/DI source reinvented. Hmmmm. So maybe Chang is trying to get the original DI reconstituted (heehee) to fight this new evil DI Hans-led version. I guess we might never know, at this pace.

Capcom said...

BTW, I think that Chang can be trusted, he was just going along with the initial confidentiality of the DI project. Something anyone has to follow when working under those kinds of conditions (see Manhattan Project, etc.). I mean, you don't have to change your name, but confidentiality and top secret conditions are very serious things in certain proprietary applications alone. Especially when the fate of the entire world is at stake! :-D

Scoutpost said...

Well bummer that nothing has happened. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days I have most time to spend on the computer. Doesn't Hoodlum know that?!!

Hey Speaker! Good to see you. We wish we had something to talk about like in TLE also. Ah the good ole days...

I agree Maven, surely there will be more than meets the eye. Look at it this way, discovering and using the cheat was the most exciting thing that has happened so far. If that wasn't intentional or was a mistake, then this ARG really sucks! Clearly we are starving for some challenges. Something hidden and cryptic. I want my Slovaltine!!

Oh, finally got the myspace block off my computer. Nice job Codysmom.

Black Swan said...

Thanks, sayid'sgirl!

capcom said....
So maybe Chang is trying to get the original DI reconstituted (heehee) to fight this new evil DI Hans-led version.

interesting idea, but how can we know who is to be trusted? Chang seems to be part of an elite section of the original DI that knows the true purpose of the hatches and the experiments that were going on there. But, do we know that this elite group on the island only had good intentions?

Black Swan said...

I meant.. thanks, scoutpost! (need more coffee.. lol)

EmeraldIsLost said...

Anyone else ever played Myst? I was just re-watching the Pierre Chang video (for want of anything new to do!) and was reminded forcefully of Myst from the way this video is portrayed. i think i remember hearing that myst had been an influence for lost?

Tess315 said...

I was wondering what you were thanking me for. :)

Capcom said...

Well, the only thing I would base that on is that in desperate frustration, Chang broke the silence and charade, to make his plea on the vid.

Of course, that's not to say that Chang, Daniel, and whomever else was there didn't break down into a thousand laughs at our expense, after they turned off the camera. :-D

Capcom said...

I don't know what Myst is Emerald, but I've heard of it. I'll have to look it up and see.

EmeraldIsLost said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
EmeraldIsLost said...

lol; it was a computer game about a mysterious and seemingly uninhabited island, also with stations all over it, and you fell into it through a book. having no knowledge you just had to wander around and find things out; if you did something on one part of the island; it generally made something else happen somewhere else, there was lots of logic and puzzles involved; and there were also different ages, oh and 2 brothers who were both trapped and needed your help to escape but you didn't know who to trust, so had to work that out. all very strange and hard to explain, so ill let you look it up, lol, as i don't think i'm doing a great job of explaining it.

Capcom said...

Wow, it sounds interesting and fun! :-D Also, does sound like an inspiration to Lost.

EmeraldIsLost said...

Yeah, its really good. :)

EmeraldIsLost said...

codysmom said:interesting idea, but how can we know who is to be trusted?

I personally don't trust either the new or the old DI, despite any good intentions they may have to save the human race or whatever. I don't think i'll be doing any recruiting for them. Oh, and i like the Black Swan myspace page, btw; it looks very funny :)


Oh, and good podcast :D

Capcom said...

I'm not going to do email recruiting for them/ABC either. It's spammy and kind of un-net-ethical for a game to do that, IMHO. Then again, Lost TLEs are my only experience with online gaming, so I may just be a noob-roob in my opinion. Bring on Jeep, Sprite, and Verizon for getting the promo bucks, I'm not going to give anyone my friends' emails. :-o

Black Swan said...

EmeraldIsLost, thanks! (about the Black Swan page) And I LOVED the first two Mysts!! (memories)

Black Swan said...

Capcom said...
"Well, the only thing I would base that on is that in desperate frustration, Chang broke the silence and charade, to make his plea on the vid."

Right! Chang wants the DI reconstituted because he hopes with his newfound knowledge from Daniel, that he can change the past so the DI doesn't get purged. Isn't this DWY recruitment a consequence of that? Maybe I have it all wrong, but I thought DDWY and Chang want the same thing for the same reasons. The thing we don't know is what the original DI was really up to in the first place, right? I get so confused! I still don't know who the good guys are... or even if there are ANY good guys... things are not black and white. (It's all about the grey)

Capcom said...

That sounds good Codysmom. And you're right, we still don't know who's who yet.

I think that there is the possibility that Van Eeghan is on the Others' side (because of similarities I said above), pretending to be the DI in a new version, but RuckusGuy (and Chang?) are trying (albeit VERY passively, sheesh) to tell us that they are not the old DI, and that anyone who believes in the old DI needs to come out and help the old DI values, and try to keep the purge from happening -- or, just keep the old DI going in spite of the inevitable purge. And, to usurp this new fake DI version.

Ah puh, I dunno. :o)

Black Swan said...

capcom, so Hans and Ben are friends? hmmmmmmm

Black Swan said...

Darn!!! I'm signed up for EW Lost e-mail alerts and I just got spoiled (a little)..

Nickb123 said...

Nice to see Speaker giving TLE vets some love. Cept I was supposed to be doing his Lostpedia interview next week lol....! I'll let im off!

btw are these podcasts posted weekly at a certain time always?

maven said...

I saw that EW spoiler thingy, too, Codysmom. They should know better.

Capcom said...

Oh-oh! I wanna know the spoilery thing! Is it over on DarkUFO too? I'll go check. :-B

Capcom said...

Gasp!!!! If it's what I just saw on Dark's from E!Online, that's a big spoiler to spoil for some folks! Yes Maven, shame on them.

MadAriad said...

Ack! I don't want to get spoiled! Don't say anything if you know what it is!
Are there rules for spoilers on this blog?

MadAriad said...

BTW, THANKS to those who know for not saying it already!

Capcom said...

Don't worry Madariad, there are pretty strict rules about spoilers here on TLC blogs! We can say we saw some, but that's about it. :-D

TakesaVillage said...

I am cancelling my EW alerts.
Loose lips sink ships.

Tess315 said...

Oh no I signed up for email alerts too. I wonder if I can get rid of it without seeing it.
codysmom is the subject line a spoiler or just the article?

Scoutpost said...

Sayid's girl- it is in the subject line. I got it too, but I didn't care...LOL Se what this ARG and hiatus are doing to me! I don't even care about avoiding spoilers!


So if you can get someone else to delete it, then do that, but if you get spoiled, I don't think it's too bad as long as you don't read the article. IMO

Tess315 said...

Thanks scoutpost. Maybe I'll get my daughter to delete it. Or maybe I'll be brave and do it myself. :)
Otherwise I'll probably read the article and wish I hadn't. I did that alot with TV Guide last season.

maven said...

What happened to the weekly test?

k3lvini5aliv3 said...

At this pace, if something was to be released via the A.R.G. for Season 5.... we'd be watching it in Syndication.

Anonymous said...

@Nick - I don't care who does it - you can take turns if you wish!

It's been a very confusing week for me lmao

Scoutpost said...

Well here it is, another Tuesday night, and nothing going on with the ARG. BIG surprise.

Black Swan said...

Hi

I signed up my DH on my gmail at DDWY, and "he" signed up and took the tests... ("he" can't get better than 75 without cheating either... and I'm not letting him cheat...lol). I didn't get any Dharma points for signing him up, what's up with that? He's also a Pandora.

Zort70 said...

Looks like we need another round of Slovaltine clues as there is no DWY update today.

EmeraldIsLost said...

new test is up; its a broad spectrum knowledge analysis; and i'm now in group brontes having taken it?! apparently only the first take of the test matters.

Anonymous said...

Why is the i underlined in Analysis?

EmeraldIsLost said...

wow you're right i never noticed that!! how rubbish am i at these things?! can't be unimportant; these things never are... hmmm

Zort70 said...

I spoke too soon !

They have learnt, only the first test will be counted.

I love the last question, I hope it is the same for everyone.

EmeraldIsLost said...

wait a minute; thought of something; a cyclops has one eye; i underlined= coincidence? i think not. still don't know what it means though. Anyone?

@zort; the last question does seem to be the same for everyone. :)

EmeraldIsLost said...

hey; the answer 'blinks' heeheeheeheehee

Ange said...

NEW POST!

It's pretty bare bones, as I am off to work. Hopefully Dennis can add more later as details trickle in!