Tag Archives: video game

Kanye Quest

Description: A video game created in the RPG maker game engine. On the surface, it seems to be a regular role playing game centered around the musical artist Kanye West. However, there is a secret terminal within the game that eventually leads to the implication of cult recruitment and activity.

Background: Both informants received the information through internet videos.

Transcript:

TS: But basically there was an arg thing in it that people aren’t sure is like an Easter egg or actual cult recruitment (like 90% chance it’s the former but still)

BD: there’s a few video essays on it on youtube

BD: it was an rpg maker game. like the base game was kanye quest but there was a terminal you could enter a password into and it’d go into a weird pseudo game where you had to keep entering passwords and then if you got to the end there’d be a thing saying “congrats you ascended” and would ask if you wanted to move into the next step and if you selected yes it’d ask for your info but the version of the game that was playable didn’t have internet capabilities however original version is lost i believe bc the creator locked it

Me: How does Kanye tie into all that?

BD: Honestly it(Kanye) doesn’t, that’s just what the game was. If you didn’t know about the terminal there was a whole full-ledged game about kanye basically.

TS: Yeah like it was a meme rpg game totally unrelated to anything. That’s why the ARG cult stuff was such a surreal thing.

BD: Also because the cult(referenced in the game) is a real cult.

Me: Is there actual indication that it was real cult stuff?

BD: That’s where it gets murky, like since the game didn’t have internet capabilities people think it was just a thing to spook. There’s also rumors that that’s because it’s the second released version of the game if i remember.

My thoughts:

Cult recruitments through the medium of the internet is certainly not something that is unthinkable. I think what is interesting is how under the surface it is. A seemingly innocent game having cult implications if someone digs deep enough. It is a popular genre when it comes to internet mysteries. One example would be the popularity of the iceberg, where obscure knowledge and rumors about a specific topic is placed within an iceberg image, separated by how obscure the rumor or fact is. This kind of thing tends to be a recurring theme when it comes to the internet. As everything on the internet is somewhat public and monitored, people start to devise methods to encrypt their actions and the information that they want to spread. I think it’s the feeling of secrecy that makes these tales so compelling, the feeling that you are within a secret club for a specific hidden knowledge. Also the hidden sense of excitement and fear when something digital begins to affect the real world. In this sense that hook also applies to many ARGs that have existed. As for what I believe, I think that there is a good chance that the cult elements were real. It is not unthinkable for cults to recruit people through these obscure means, and having Kanye fans as a target does make sense in some ways (some fans worship him like a god).

A Gamer’s Language to Duel

“1v1 me Rust” is a popular saying amongst gamers, primarily ones who play fps (first-person shooter) games. It’s like telling someone to fight you but in a video game. This came from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when they released a map called Rust. This map was extremely small and was often used for duels and 1v1s which is just like one of those cowboy shootouts. It’s easy to use cheap tricks in shooters like these and people would normally get upset or trash talk. The way to settle the dispute would be a 1v1 on Rust. It makes it clear who the better player is and now the saying is used in other shooter games as well.

Context: The informant identifies as a gamer and has been playing various video games since they were in grade school. He first found out about the saying when he first played the game in its release in 2009. He has also seen the term with popular professional gamers and streamers.

Thoughts: I really like the comparison from the duel to that of an American western shootout. It shows the competitiveness of the gaming community and how certain influencers of the community shape the outcome of a game entirely. It makes sense to have competition such as this to see who is the better player. One on one games have been apparent in almost every competitive setting and it is interesting to see how certain aspects of the game create a whole new saying.

Meta: Gamer Slang

Main Piece: A meta is something that is mainstream. When playing competitive multiplayer games, there are always certain parts of the game, like characters, weapons, strategies that are better than the rest. When it comes to a high level of play where people are closer in terms of skill, every advantage you can take counts. Because of that, a bunch of people have coined that term, for things in a game that is trending or popular. These are most of the time made by professional gamers and streamers who are popular within the gaming community. Now whenever something is popular or trending, my friends and I call it meta like saying “Oh this is the new meta” when we do something crazy or out of the box. That could also be off-meta. It’s something we use whenever there’s a recommendation.

Context: The informant identifies as a gamer and has been playing various video games since they were in grade school. He first found out about what a meta is through popular gamers on youtube and twitch.

Thoughts: Although video games are most of the time connotated with leisure and play, there is a side of gaming that is extremely competitive. It tells a lot about the entertainment industry and how it’s shifting towards a more digital era. Athletes are normally seen as big, bulky guys but now with the integration of Esports, the image of the athlete changes. The use of a meta validates how competitive video games are contrary to popular beliefs.

Herobrine

Collected privately in an empty hallway while his friends played a horror game in the other room, which he returned to after the interview. I began by simply asking, “What do you know about Herobrine?”

The informant first heard about Herobrine from a Youtube video in middle school, around the time when Minecraft was getting very popular.

 

Informant: “Uhh I know that it was, umm uh, a popular myth surrounding the game Minecraft. Uh, the idea it that it was, uh, an entity hidden in the code that would sort of on a random case-by-case basis do things to your game. Um I also know it’s not true. Uh, you can go through the codes of all, of every single version of Minecraft and see that there’s nothing. Um, but the creators had fun with people and would constantly tease about it, and all of their change logs ever since the old myth came up, they would put, like, ‘Herobrine removed,’ ‘Herobrine removed,’ like ‘he’s finally removed.’ And, um, yeah but it was really popular and it’s a common thing that people who play video games like to do. It’s the same concept as creepypastas of just writing haunted versions of games, especially because they think people are interested in exploring ghost stories as they relate to modern media and modern technology, um, as opposed to the old jaded, like, haunted house that no one’s scared of anymore because we’ve rehashed it in so many works of fiction. But something as ubiquitous as a software that can be downloaded that can be haunted is more interesting.”

Interviewer: “Do you know his origin?”

Informant: “Uhh, something about… the creator, Notch’s, brother passing away? Something like that? Which isn’t true… in the slightest. Other than that, not too well-versed.”

Interviewer: “Do you know anyone who claims to have seen Herobrine, or know someone else who claims to have seen Herobrine?”

Informant: “Umm… I knew a, I knew a lot of uhh… a lot of kids in uhh… uh middle school that would claim it. Uhh… and who no one would ever believe.”

Interviewer: “What does Herobrine supposedly do? If he appears in a game.”

Informant: “Umm, I’ve heard various accounts because, obviously, it doesn’t actually happen, so people’s stories like to vary and people like to one-up each other. Um, but it very, it can be something as just suddenly killing you, suddenly appearing and disappearing, things moving around, um, a lot of things you’ll find in a lot of other ghost story literature.”

Herobrine

This informant does not believe in Herobrine, and provides very logical explanations for why he was such a phenomenon. He is in the age group of people who would be playing Minecraft at its peak of popularity, and being interested in game design, he is well versed in gaming culture.

Herobrine

Collected in a college apartment while the informant was preparing to cook lunch.

The informant played Minecraft in middle school, and, being a game designer, is well-versed in gamer culture. She, unlike many others, first heard about Herobrine from a friend rather than from the Internet.
Informant: “To my understanding – Sorry, I’m going to be a little noisy. [informant rustles plastic wrapping, preparing to cook] Okay. Herobrine, from my understanding, is, yeah, it’s like the Minecraft uhh… the Minecraft ghost? He’s got, like, white eyes and people claim that… I don’t know, that he behaves kind of similarly to Slenderman? Like he’ll just kinda show up. Um, I don’t remember if he does anything bad to you? I don’t think he does? But, there’s just like screenshots that are, like, very obviously edited [laughs]. Um, but those got a lot of traction, and then mods came out that had an actual Herobrine, but I’m pretty sure that it was just, like, another mod skinned to be looking like Herobrine… But I remember being kinda freaked out about it, like every time I’d play at night I’d be like, ‘Oh my god, what if I wake up in the middle of the night [in Minecraft] and instead of, like, a zombie… being over my bed in Minecraft it’s Herobrine’ and I’d be like, ‘OH SHIT, IT LOOKS JUST LIKE ME! [laughs] Except it has white eyes!’ And that was about the extent of, like, how deep the lore was for me [laughs]. And I kinda loved it, I don’t know.”

Interviewer: “When do you remember hearing about Herobrine, and through what?”

Informant: “Oh god, [chuckles] that was, like, middle school? One of my friends was like, ‘… [In a mocking, purposefully deep voice] Have you heard of Herobrine?’ And I was like, ‘ [In a mocking, purposefully high, airy voice] NO?! What’s Herobrine?!’ And he was telling me all about it, but it was like total fucking bullshit, like he told me the same thing three times, except each time was a little bit different about, like, the first time he’d seen it. So I was like, ‘Ian, you’re a jackass [laughs] .’ But… yeah then I, then I started digging into it on my own… because it was way more fun than listening to fucking [in a mocking voice] Ian talk about it. And then I told my other friends… and they all looked into it, except I was a much better storyteller than Ian was [laughs]. Do you have any other Herobrine questions?”

Interviewer: “Do you know what he does? So he appears in the game, right?”

Informant: “Theoretically.”

Interviewer: “Do you know what he does?”

Informant: “I don’t remember off the top of my head, no. Does he steal your shit? What does he do?”

Interviewer: “I don’t know, that’s for you to tell me.”

Informant: “[Laughs] I’m pretty – From my memory, he just was, like, jumpscare-man. Like he would just pop up, like all of the screenshots he wasn’t doing anything; He literally was just there. Uhh… like when people turn around they were like, ‘[In a mocking voice] And then Herobrine was right there!’ Or they’d be in, like, the desert, where you have a lot of visibility, and they’d see in the distance, like, the shape of, of Minecraft, you know, the Minecraft avatar, um, except they would have, like, glowing white eyes and they’d be, like, ‘[In a mocking voice] That’s not me.’ Uhh [laughs] yes. And that is my understanding of what Herobrine does.”

Interviewer: “Do you know Herobrine’s origin?”

Informant: “Umm, I’m pretty sure someone just, like… I feel like I, I saw, like, a 4chan screenshot? There was, it was literally just, like, the, the, the base avatar from Minecraft except with, like, Photoshopped white eyes. Umm, and then someone was telling this story about, like, their creepy interaction with Herobrine and how, like, Herobrine watched them. That’s, like, my most distinctive, and it feels like the most original [laughs].”

Herobrine
The informant is clearly amused by the notion of Herobrine, and by what, to her, is the sheer silliness of the character and her memories from middle school. She does not believe in Herobrine. Interestingly, while most others associate Herobrine with the statement, “Removed Herobrine” in every patch note, the informant had not heard of this ever being done.