4/2/17 Focus Group

Great Periscope @julierei. Really exciting to watch and be there vicariously with you all.

Do you have one with the logo that’s on the open door?

It also sounds like Sarah is the real leader… Surprised to hear that Noah comes off as a genuine and honest guy.

@nothenrygale what was the paperwork for. There are a number of possibilities with those numbers

What a perfect alibi… but for what could he need an alibi is my question.

I have a sneaky suspicion that you will all be seeing what happened in our meeting today. They had two robo cameras on us constantly moving around, with someone feeding Sarah info through her surveillance in her ear, most likely Noah. He eventually came out and told us we were boring, as he finished a beer and threw the bottle. Sarah insinuated that his alcohol problem has gotten in the way of their company, marriage and intimacy. We were asked to leave and then we saw Noah staggering down Western, so we followed until the police pulled over, arrested him and left.
Needless to say I am on an adrenaline high….

10/1/17 sounds like a date, doesn’t it @nothenrygale?

@nothenrygale did they say forever silent before they hung up

Just got home and finished the Periscope’s. It seems that Sarah’s the one who actually runs the business and that Noah isn’t what his website makes him seem to be, or isn’t that any more. They did say that Noah is a brand, maybe he’s a brand that Sarah made up for the business, it’s easy enough to write up some stuff that makes him seem more than he is, and the whole point of the business is trying to convince people of what you want them to believe.

I’m guessing we’re going to be seeing more of a standoff between Noah and Sarah some time down the line, and it’s probably going to be harsh since they have a kid and Noah seems to care about him.

On the possible puzzle of the numbers, if you add together 1+17+10 = 28 then added together is 10, which sounds like it might be a theme here? 10 invitations… except for the minus one when @thegilded got kicked out.

I think we need to know more about that disclaimer.

#winning

I’d very much like to know exactly what the questions/directives were, but, more importantly how did you all answer them. Who was the most nervous? Who hesitated? Who was cut throat? Who was the most determined? And so forth.

@thebuz @julierei @wanda102 @nothenrygale @shankfx22 @anakindrew @russell @pandace88 @hazelverse

Noah is essentially me. Not at all ashamed to admit that.

@steiner2 – I was never kicked out, I was never invited

Seems like the System isn’t working out so hot for Noah’s personal life or self-control. Any inkling of subsequent seminar scheduling?

@druzicka I like the shadow puppet in your avatar. Cute.

@confuseddude This may be your answer

Wait, who are the eyes and ears that will report back?

Am I missing something?

Now I need to know! Is there a periscope or something I should be watching.

I think they are all still out at a bar.

Gee, thanks @Tyson. I confess it was unintentional, but now that you mention it a shadow-cock is oddly appropriate for The Lust Experience… (?)

The strange thing is there must have been a reason that @mike was kicked out. That makes me so curious. When Noah Contacted you, was it @mike or @russell that he specifically contacted? Not gunna lie, but when I read that Mike got asked to leave I got a real Walrus and the Carpenter vibe.

@confuseddude brings up a good point. Looks like we need Julie Rei’s Periscope to see what happened, can anyone post a link to it?

Going forward, can we always post links to relevant Periscopes?

Julie’s periscope

Can ya’ll please update from the bar? What happened at the Focus Group? I can’t just be a voyeur I guess. Team Loser up in SLC and can’t play until I am on vaca to see my sister.

?

tics

I’ll summarize later but for now, see the following Periscopes for recaps:

Julie Rei’s Periscope

Buz’s Periscope

The date and time is wrong in the photo they posted on facebook.

Right @jay956
It’s 4/3 on the stills. And Also, I like how everyone is sitting, facing away from one another, individualizing the experience. Also, also possibility: Musical Chairs.

Hazel’s Periscope

What could the wrong timestamp on the fb post mean? Here are a few possibilities:
1. It’s a mistake. Not likely.
2. It hints at when the next “event” is going to take place (Monday 4/3 at 7 am?)
3. Someone else *in a different time zone* was watching live through a broadcast. 4/3 at 7:57 am is 15 hours ahead of when the focus group took place. According to a quick (and possibly erroneous) google search, the time zone that is 15 hours ahead of pacific time is Shanghai, China. Is that where the investors are?

I wonder if Sarah called the police on Noah. How else would they have known to look for him? Did Noah throw the bottle AT someone or towards someone? Cuz I’d probably call the cops if someone threw a beer bottle towards me. Especially if I had 9 witnesses watch it happen.

@nothenrygale No mention of what happened to @mike… IMO, he’s influencer and was told to leave. That seems pretty important.

Also, can someone expand on why you are led to believe Noah and Sarah’s sex life is lacking. Was there a dig or complaint about made by Sarah? By Noah?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by M..

@izryn the Shanghai thing is intriguing, actually. Easy to believe in an international Investor presence, and that did seem like an interesting discrepancy in time.

@druzicka

I’m so honored. Wow.

Regarding the date and the quote attached to the photo, that they have everything they need. Could be that they’re trying to tie those people to that location at that time or to offer an alibi for Sarah’s location.

It doesn’t totally hold up given that Noah’s arrest would be part of some record, but might be worth considering.

@nothenrygale – That’s the first I’ve heard about what Noah said in there. Maybe when he and his wife started this “business” it was new and exciting and he was loving it and loving her, but now everything’s gotten stale and boring to him and he’s “lusting” after more or something else. He seems to be filling the void with booze as well, when @lilmsfancpants had her meeting with him, she or someone else talked about how he had the waiter keep the drinks coming and how he was fairly disheveled looking. Maybe he’s spending his nights in the bars and in the bottle because he’s fallen out of love with his wife and with life?

I thought Sarah was in charge. When I got my “loser” response back from Sarah, I sent a follow up email, but had no response to it. Here is what I wrote on 2/21:

Sarah,

I apologize for my language in my initial email. But, I needed to see who really is in charge. A COO has more important tasks than replying to requests for entrance into The System seminars.

Noah is the public persona of The System, and I suspect that he does make some decisions. But, we both know that you are the éminence grise – the power behind the throne.

These chaotic times are fertile ground to take what is ours. This isn’t about what The System can offer me, but what I can offer The System.

Contact me for a face to face talk, if you are interested. Otherwise, I will take my services elsewhere.

How far are you are willing to go to achieve your desire?

Can someone talk about the disclaimers that were mentioned? Something about universes?

About the numbers (01)(17)(10) 1st meeting of 2017 with 10 people?

So uh…anyone heard from @mike since being kicked out and trying to get ahold of his ride? Did he get picked up by the cops too? ARE YOU IN SOMEONE’S BASEMENT, @MIKE?!

@kevin Hmm…I don’t think it could be an alibi. If that’s what they were intending on using it as, it’s a pretty poor one, considering the fb post was made on 4/2 and we have 9 people who can testify that they were indeed present at the location depicted in the photo at a time different than what the timestamp reads.

@meghanmayhem – you should know better. I’m the one who keeps people in basements, not the other way around 🙂

Today’s been a hectic day, so between feeding dogs, finding my ride, catching up on periscopes, and trying to catch details about The Chosen 9…..I finally posted haha

Can someone talk about the disclaimers that were mentioned? Something about universes?

I’d like to hear more about this since I never saw or heard this since I was kicked out before they went over it. So technically, I shouldn’t be on the Lust Facebook in those screenshots right?

PLOT TWIST – I sue Sinclair Industries and take over! mwahahahaha

I just have this feeling that all that happened today was we fed the beast more data. I hope the data we collected was worth whatever they got from this focus group.

@mike The day will come for most of us when we wander into someone’s basement under the guise of a “beta test of a new escape room”. Glad that day is not today for you.

I’m so confused and intrigued about the role playing and such, it sounds like some improv game I would do with my high school theater students ?? I’d love to know more about Sarah??

But I have to admit, I kinda wanna party with Noah.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Sage.

@mike

We don’t know how far the Sinclair’s reach is. Police? For a powerful person, calling in police favors (‘Hey pick up my drunkard of a husband…’) Isn’t unheard of. A woman scorned is a powerful thing.

SO EXCITING. Thank you all for sharing your experience!

Hey… just getting in and catching up on people’s thoughts. A few things to throw in…

@kevin Very interesting idea that a time stamp could be an alibi for some future reason, that would be damn clever. It will be interesting to see if that pans out somehow.

@lukasrl To answer your question from way back, @mike and I received a joint email.

As far as the actual event today, you have read descriptions of what happened, so I am just going to add couple of thoughts…

I firmly believe @nothenrygale nailed it. I believe this was a test to see where our moral compasses are set and how easily they can be influenced. Also, the ability to manipulate others and lie was the overall theme.

It should also be noted that somewhere, someone was taking notes. Sarah stopped a couple of times to look directly at a camera, getting information through an earpiece. I answered a question early in the meeting and she noted to the camera “Russell gave the correct answer.” Another moment happened when @hazelverse gave an unpredictable response, it seemed Sarah was listening for a moment to something being said into her earpiece.

Before the shift away from the testing was made and she showed us the picture of Noah, she actually turned her back to us and seemed to have a brief conversation abut the group. Was all of this conversation with Noah Sinclair watching from another room?

Obviously, they have our images captured. Because of the questions (moral dilemmas) being discussed, they also have video and audio of all of us saying thing which, taken out of context, could sound very damning.

Also, it is also clear that The System does not seem to be working well for Noah Sinclair himself.

@russell – when she turned her back towards us and talked into her earpiece before showing us the photos of Noah, I specifically remember her saying:

“No…NO! It’s fine, I cam IMPROVSIE.”

Which I thought was really interesting.

Clearly something was not going to plan, even before Noah came out.

Also, when Noah did come out, he said we were “boring” or something along those lines….

Damn @anakindrew, killing it with this breakdown. I was reading and hoping to write a nice reply to your review, but the baby, that likes to shit her pants, is demanding my attention. I’m extremely happy you got to experience this today. Now you know why I’ve been telling you to be a part of this since last February when this all started. ?

Wow. Eventful day! I saw @hazelverse almost get hit by a couple of cars chasing Noah down on the street (on her periscope).

Did it seem for sure like she was talking to Noah, or is it possible there was someone else there too? The improvise line sounds like there’s someone she may answer to, or at least be equals with, and Noah doesn’t seem like that guy. I dunno.

It also seems pretty clear the system is complete bullshit, no? Did anyone feel like the questions or the things they had you do tied into the system at all?

And thanks to everyone for the periscopes and descriptions of the focus group!

@bruinbown I do also recall at the beginning of the group Sarah held her earpiece and said “can everyone hear me?” and some of us answered her before it because clear she was talking to a group of people through her earpiece, if that helps.

Also when Sarah was chastising Noah before he stormed out she specifically mentioned that his drinking problem was affecting what they’d built together (if this hasn’t been brought up to flesh out the “Noah’s negatively affecting his own business” theory.)

Yes, @wanda102, I took that comment from Sarah as a reference to his drinking hurting business.

@anakindrew Thank you for adding that detail about “I can improvise” coming from Sarah, I did not catch that phrase at the time. Also… impressed by your willingness to stand by that moral code, I felt for sure I could sway you… 😉

You mention Noah’s comments to us… several times (including when he went up very close to Sarah) Noah said he was “Waiting for it to get goooood…” I believe he found us boring. Which made one of his last lines really odd… “You people don’t know what you’ve done.” (Or something along those lines.)

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Russell.

@shankfx22 @wanda102
Thanks guys. Sounds strange and fascinating. And fun! Ha ha. I would love to see how you guys tried to convince each other to abandon what you believe and what you see.

I think it’s important to look at how focus groups work. Usually the person who developed the product or the marketing team behind the product is behind a one-way mirror, watching the focus group beta-test the product and provide feedback. So this fits in exactly with what we are seeing from Sarah using her earpiece to talk to whoever is on the other side.

My guess would be that it would be the OSDM with Noah, watching, and collecting data on who responds in what ways so they know who they can use in the future.

@taysavestheday You mentioning the one sided mirror reminded me that there was a very tall mirror leaning back onto the wall, slightly tilted towards the ceiling. When we all met up after the focus group, we were trying to figure out if it had any significance since it was never utilized or introduced by Sarah. I don’t really have any theories on it, only maybe that it was in fact representing the one sided mirror of focus groups like you mentioned.

@shankfx22, that is really interesting! Thanks for letting me know. I could see them bringing in that mirror as a representation, like you mentioned, if they couldn’t obtain a location with a real one-way mirror. But they definitely are testing something out with the designers watching via cameras and ear pieces.

Alright, @taysavestheday and @shankfx22, I’m going to just dive head first into this particular rabbit hole. I do my best (worst?) thinking after midnight anyway.

I’ve taken part in a couple focus groups from behind the mirror on TV shows I’ve worked on. One thing that is always true, you don’t ask the questions yourself. If the person running the group has a vested interest in the responses of the attendees, the data is useless. You need an unbiased person there. There’s a science to focus groups. We were always allowed to ask the interviewer to ask questions, but they always chose the best way to ask it, to get an unbiased response.

This makes me think that Noah and Sarah are just middle-men. The system appeared out of nowhere. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that it was a ruse to get a certain kind of person in to the focus group. You’re either looking for an audience that represents society as a whole, or a specific audience that you would target your product to.

This entire thing may be a ruse, with Noah and Sarah being pawns. This all seems reasonable to this point, to me. Now, is where the real speculation begins. This may get a bit out there, so feel free to jump right off the ride now.

Ok, so. Noah, as he was leaving the focus group, said “You have no idea what you just did.” It seems like it was unclear who he was talking to. But whether he was talking to Sarah or the group, this still works, I think. I think Noah and Sarah got into this as consultants. They are going to run a series of focus groups, likely for the OSDM. they were excited, make a quick buck, get their business back on track, etc. But then things started to happen. No idea what those things are, but I’d wager, like Vader and Lando on Bespin, the deal kept getting worse for them. Noah turned to the bottle, and Sarah decided to push through. Noah stormed out, he is done. He isn’t on board with what they are doing, and Sarah doesn’t care. She will continue to push forward and, who knows, Noah may try to stop her and their clients.

As I said, this gets really speculative, really quickly. Hopefully all of that is clear. It is nearly 1am after all.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Kyle Bown.

@bruinbown, @shankfx22 I love speculating with you both at 1am. It’s really the only time to do serious thinking.

But I really like where we’re going with this. Noah and Sarah definitely seem like hired consultants, gathering data for what the OSDM really plans to push out this season (or how they want to push it out).

But what really gets me thinking is this seems very similar to the words Noah spoke to Samson. This is when we believed Noah to be a higher up OSDM member compared to Samson. I’m paraphrasing, but he said that the data is all useless. We already know The OOA was just one big ruse to gather data from us. So it makes sense that once the OSDM had to begin to step in, the data becomes useless.

And to keep going down our rabbit hole. This is typical of any research study. You need the study to be blinded, or better yet, double blinded for the data to be believable. A blinded study means the participant is unaware of what is being tested on them (e.g., they don’t know if they are getting the placebo or the drug). A double blinded study means that both the researcher and the patient don’t know. This is why in focus groups they hire an external company to do the group. This ensures a double blinded study. The minute the OSDM steps in, it’s no longer a double blinded study and their data may be useless.

@taysavestheday that is VERY interesting and I definitely think you are on the right track. I was unaware of Noah and Samson’s previous interactions, so this is enlightening for sure

I believe this was a test to see where our moral compasses are set and how easily they can be influenced. Also, the ability to manipulate others and lie was the overall theme… Because of the questions (moral dilemmas) being discussed, they also have video and audio of all of us saying thing which, taken out of context, could sound very damning.

This. Is this how they divide us? I’m still on a belief that they will try to divide the community. We can give lip service to the idea of we’re all The One and this community is strong… blah blan blah. But, what it comes down to is people wanting a slice of the pie, of a moment in the sunshine. So, who’s willing to throw friends under the bus for it? Who’s willing to ignore their moral compass?

@Russell spoke of the video being taken out of context could be very damning. Maybe the video only shows us the true colors of those 9 (good or bad). I know if the video portrays you as a good liar or lacking a moral compass, I would be extremely hesitant to trust your word on anything. I would look at you with suspicion because are you being fake or authentic?

I keep going back to some of the moments in Tension when this community was a lot smaller. Emotions are very delicate creatures. They can bring a group together and make them stronger. Or, unleashed in a rage, they can tear a community apart. Group mentality is like fire… it’s catching. (Yeah, I kind of just borrowed and paraphrased from The Hunger Games). Are we heading towards are own version of the Hunger Games?

A couple thoughts on @michelle’s recent post…

I’m still on a belief that they will try to divide the community. We can give lip service to the idea of we’re all The One and this community is strong… blah blan blah. But, what it comes down to is people wanting a slice of the pie, of a moment in the sunshine. So, who’s willing to throw friends under the bus for it? Who’s willing to ignore their moral compass?

……

I keep going back to some of the moments in Tension when this community was a lot smaller. Emotions are very delicate creatures. They can bring a group together and make them stronger.

@michelle The reason I mentioned the “could be damning” aspect is that they controlled the narrative of our comments. Most notably the moment of how we might win back trust after a perceived betrayal of someone we knew… that’s pretty darn specific. Do they already have something in mind to make it seem like we will NEED to ask for a second chance from each other?

I agree there may be efforts to split this community but if this does become a fiasco of people trying to undermine, compromise, betray and sabotage… why would anyone stick around? It wouldn’t just hurt the community. It would also dismantle whatever LUST is.

Tension proved that some people around here are willing to do all of the above. You are correct in pointing out that it seems many have forgotten the community of Tension nearly fractured completely and fall apart. Some of those wounds, I suspect, ares still pretty close to the surface. Hell… I KNOW they are. I hope everyone moving forward will lean toward the side of respecting each other, but it sounds like you are not convinced that they will. (I am not trying to speak for you… it’s just the vibe I pick up from your comments.) To be honest, I may be in agreement with you. I plan to proceed with caution.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Russell.

@russell –

You are correct in pointing out that it seems many have forgotten the community of Tension nearly fractured completely and fall apart. Some of those wounds, I suspect, ares still pretty close to the surface. Hell… I KNOW they are. I hope everyone moving forward will lean toward the side of respecting each other, but it sounds like you are not convinced that they will.

I think one conspicuous absence is enough to demonstrate that wounds are still close to the surface for many. I believe that we are tenuously leaning towards respecting each other and fighting to maintain a community where this is the case throughout. As long as we can continue that fight I believe we’ll have that community. But we HAVE to fight for it and keep it worth fighting for. Some of us are a year older and wiser, and can use that where the welfare of the community is concerned.

One HUGE thing I learned that I take forward into this year – this is KEY for me, in a lot of ways – is that many people here “play” and I DON’T. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. This is not meant as judgement on people’s different approaches to the “game,” I have those judgements but I’m not going into them here. Knowing now, for example, that @mike might throw me under a bus helps me in the future frame the part where he DOES throw me under a bus properly in my head. Since I’m far away, I have the luxury of getting to think about what I would do in everyone’s places…I may or may not ever BE in your place. But I don’t have to make the 90 second decision. I get to think through who I want to be, and how I want to approach the game. I am not a strategic player, really, but an emotional one, if the emotions are real. I play as myself, and I approach this alternate reality as though it’s just reality. I make choices in it that I would make as Megan would in real life. If this gets me nothing, it gets me nothing, but…I can’t do things that aren’t me. Trying to separate the choices that some of you make IG from you as people has been a thing I’ve learned to do because it didn’t occur to me until late late in the game last year that others weren’t doing THE SAME as me.

I am making an effort this year to react less emotionally than I did last year to every goddamn thing, but I don’t expect that to last if the creators decide to involve me in some way. And given my past six months that might be a needed thing. Who knows. This year, I know exactly who my allies here are. I know who they aren’t. I know who I can talk to and who I can’t. And I know not to assume that everyone else is on the same page as me.

@coryphella – Using a specific person as an example of someone throwing you under the bus isn’t very community-like 😛

@mike – can you hear my eye roll from all the way over there?

@coryphella Sure can!! 😀

@coryphella I have had some similar thoughts, for sure, that you are exploring.

And I know not to assume that everyone else is on the same page as me.

I don’t expect everyone to “play the game” the same. Yes, things have been said and done toward me that may get an emotional reaction, but I know the slight or insult is usually part of a strategy or role. (Remember, “I am not a delicate flower”… sorry, could not resist… haha!) What concerns me is the behind the scenes more “out of game” gossiping, bullying and exclusion that did occur last year toward some. (Hey, I was the target for a bit of it. It got weird.) I hope you are correct that the community is, indeed…

leaning towards respecting each other

@russell It makes me sad, being a newbie and all, to hear that you were subjected to bullying last year. It’s disappointing to hear and I hope this year the community operates on respect first and foremost, no matter what is going on. I was so happy to meet you yesterday and I’m excited to be a part of this community with you!

Speaking as someone who’s generally just focused on observing because of how intrinsically tight knit the Tension community is prior to Lust starting, I will admit that I don’t know how to play the game and don’t quite know yet how to make myself relevant in such a large outstanding group as ours. It has disheartened me greatly to see the division of losers vs winners in the community because it seems to go against the general first impression I had of this community, but I was also not involved in Tension last year when whatever breaking down happened had happened.

My only tidbit of advice would be to just don’t let them get to you and don’t let them get in your head. If the OSDM or whatever is interested in seeing how we react, then not letting them get to us would be the greatest step towards not letting them win. (Yes, I am creating an us vs OSDM scenario, but it’s where I can feel myself going as of this moment…)

Just to be clear, I was being sarcastic saying “Are you team Noah or are you team Sarah?” I see the ODSM in the future trying to make us split into teams just like they did for the losers in the winners

@shankfx22 not sure if that was directed at me, but my sarcasm meter is non-existent for I am Spock without the Vulcan features…

Basically I’m not even human.

@shankfx22 my comment pertaining to OSDM was more stemming from personal observations of the OSDM.

@shankfx22 Good to meet you yesterday! I am not trying to create too “heavy” a conversation here. To be a little more specific, in my case, some people decided to try affecting my real life interactions and relationships OUTSIDE of the world of Tension. That, in my opinion, was not fair play. I opt in for this adventure, but it is separate from certain areas of my life, no matter how real the emotions I feel may be.

@birdiesrunamok There are some wise words in your post. I agree not letting them “get to us” is indeed not letting them win. Please do not be intimidated by the long term folks around. You may miss some of the in-jokes here and there in the banter back and forth, but don’t hesitate to come out and play! Welcome!!!

@russell, I’m afraid the intimidation has already settled in, which is why I am preferring the role of casual observer who dumps occasional drops of wisdom here and there. With so many personalities, it’s a lot more convenient for me to reside in the outskirts.

The community I heard about and the desire to have such an intense shared experience is what drew me to Lust. I admit to having been/being the newbie greening out at times. I’m learning, so thanks for your patience if I jump at shadows or vomit irrelevant posts at the wrong time. I’ve never done anything like this and I’m just incredibly excited to be a part of it. I may be someone who gets directly involved or just an observer, it doesn’t matter because I’m here.

OMG. @birdiesrunamok, are you Drax? SO AM I. We are soulmates.

@russell:

(Hey, I was the target for a bit of it. It got weird.)

That, I did not know, or don’t remember, and I’m sorry.

Regarding “how to play” (I think that was also @birdiesrunamok?) – I think there is no one true HOW TO PLAY. I think that there are people who are at all points of the spectrum between calculating & …not. It helps, for me, to be on my 2nd year and have a sense of what *might* happen. I am here to have an experience that will hopefully render me fully present for a period of time, something that almost never happens in my life because my brain is too overactive. I don’t care about winning. I care about feeling and experiencing. I might try to put myself in a position where things might happen to me but strategizing and role-playing and all that requires part of my brain to be outside of the experience, and defeats the purpose. I have to be here and embrace it as reality, as myself, if I want it to work. Last year when they did the questionnaire I know a lot of people didn’t answer truthfully, and given my job, I considered NOT doing it at all, but jumped in and answered 100% honestly, because I wanted as much of a true experience as I could get out of it. And I can’t get that if I’m not 100% here and 100% me. And I will question the reality relentlessly and want it to hold up. Last year after my 2nd Ascension one of the creators said something to me like “you more than anyone else need your illusions kept intact,” which is very much true. I *want* to be fully convinced, and if I’m not, then it falls apart, so I’m not going to put ANY of my brain aside for “playing a game.” I end up walking away from things with regrets because I don’t plan in advance and miss opportunities but I don’t know any other way.

Others will seek openings in the story arcs to insert themselves – last year @thebuz did this beautifully. When I think back to how we were a year ago though, we had no fucking clue what we were doing or what was going on. I think we figured out how to play only because we became the community and then started supporting each other first, before trying to grab individual experiences. Maybe I’m over-romanticizing it and people who started before April will remember it differently.

@coryphella, whatever I am, I’m definitely not human. Apparently I remind people of Spock, Drax, and – according to @nothenrygale – Liara from Mass Effect.

I’m relatively new to the whole immersive thing, so knowing that I should give pieces of myself in order to make the experience worthwhile is something I find very difficult to do. Because, honestly, there is a lot that I could give away about myself that can be misconstrued (see I’m not human statement above). Given how I approach things and also knowing that I’m coming into a group that is already well established, it’s difficult not to see this experience as anything more than a game because I don’t know how I want to be involved yet. With time, this may change. For now I’m the tea sipping, blanket burritoing, humanoid alien creature in the background watching to see how you all play the game.

@ziegenbart There are some great people in this community.
And all that wondering about what speaks to you and what you want to engage with and what you want to react to…. isn’t it fun? There is no way I can keep up with everything that happens, I got a job and life-stuff, so I am bound to miss some threads here an there. But, that “finding your way” aspect of all this you reference can be a great deal of fun for me, enjoy the ride!

@coryphella, I agree there is no true “HOW TO PLAY” but I personally believe there are some basic common sense boundaries. I also answered honestly when I filled out that questionnaire. To be honest, there is one answer… that I look back on and go… why did I admit that? It has not come into play. If it does, it will be intimidating and thrilling, and it will speak to me on a reality level that playing a “character” would not be able to achieve. I get the “keep it real” vibe you speak of, it’s why Tension worked so well for me.
(And, thank you for the thoughts on my personal journey. It all came out okay, but it makes me cautious.)

To be honest, there is one answer… that I look back on and go… why did I admit that? It has not come into play. If it does, it will be intimidating and thrilling, and it will speak to me on a reality level that playing a “character” would not be able to achieve.

[cut to shot of creators, flipping madly through @russell’s questionnaire…]

Yes, there are basic common sense boundaries, I agree.

@coryphella Hahahaaa! Seriously, that was NOT my intention. I was focusing on being honest!!!

But… bring it. Haha!

How did it all end yesterday? Have any of you focus group subjects received next steps? Anything we should know about future events? I’m in CA the week/weekend of April 21, so every piece of my lustful self is praying to Antioch there will be some sort of event during that time.

@maenicole I have received no contact since the Focus Group. Have not heard of anyone else getting anything.

You probably read about @nothenrygale receiving the phone call stating “…Don’t believe the distractions, you’re better than what they’re selling you.”

Also of note is @mike’s adventure at the same time.

Other than that, my opinion is they have gathered information and will wait for some specific moment to use it. To promote or destroy us is yet to be seen.

Seeing the numbers written out that way makes me think of a combination for a lock.

@nothenrygale In the past we saw numbers used to unlock webpages on official sites, for example: thetensionexperience.com/011710. The other thing that springs to mind are dates in history. Did anything relevant occur on 01/17/2010? Are there other numbers to be found and added to these to create a longer sequence such as a phone number? Will a lock reveal itself and this is the code, as @kevin suggests? Really so many possibilities.

@nothenrygale Not 100% positive because Sarah started talking, but I think it was 01 17 10.

@nothenrygale @russell I noticed a barcode on mine as well but were they all unique? My thought when I saw it was it was a way for them to note who answered what on each questionnaire since our individual names weren’t on the forms.