Pastor Ned's Sing Along Blog
Chuck's Leaving?
Robot Speed Dating!
RoboBaby Shower
011ie's Revelation
Passive Aggressive Chuck
Chuck's Leaving... With Glen!
Tired and Emoticon
Chasing Chuck
Robots Must Have Love
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 Credits
Puppetmaster Chat








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Pastor Ned's Sing Along Blog
Pastor Ned had some... issues when he went to Subway to enter his code. He's actually lucky he didn't get arrested because he looked liked a crazed Hamburgler entering the store with his bright orange hat, sequined mask, and extension cord. I'm guessing whoever was filming him warned the employees that an insane, but relatively harmless, man would be coming in to buy a drink. Obviously the camera operator was only being paid to film Pastor Ned as they did not help him count out the numbers on the soda machine. Or tell him that it might be a good idea to use his soda cup instead of his hands.

That wasn't his own problem though. You can see that for some reason Pastor Ned almost couldn't physically enter in the last number. But in the end, he prevailed and the code was entered. And that's when things started to go downhill for him. He sent out a message to the 36 talking about his physical reaction when he entered the code and asked if anyone else had any problems. §

But back at the Devotional Indiana Community Service Church, Pastor Ned started to lose it. You would almost think that maybe someone spiked his drink and he was having a bad trip. I bet Pastor Ned wishes that he had been drugged. It would be better than what he found out about himself. §

Holy crap! Pastor Ned's a robot? Didn't see that one coming. I wonder if this means he can now get together with M@t@ H@ri, the robot who has been tempting him because she reminds him so much of his dead wife. I hope so. Pastor Ned was so awesome he deserves a happy ending so long as that happy ending isn't the destruction of all robots.
 
Chuck's Leaving?
So with Tim god knows where, 011ie has the weekend to himself. And instead of going out with girls, he decides to play video games. At least Chuck is around to make sure he eats (and input the 8335 code at the Subway soda fountain) and help him beat Mega Man 9. §

So, Chuck isn't in a good place right now. It's got to suck losing your job, have problems finding a new one, and have the robot you have a crush on only see you as a prop to get dates with. Although, after watching the video a few times, I'm not exactly sure that's all 011ie sees in her now. Maybe Tim's little feelings talk got 011ie thinking a bit. You can tell that he does want Chuck around and although his wingman excuse was a knife in Chuck's heart, I sort of get the feeling he was trying to compliment her. That and think up a logical reason why he needed her to stay. But the playing with the tie is one of those classic subconscious indicators - like a girl twirling her hair.

We've been trying to get 011iver to go over to Chuck's place since she's refusing his calls, but he's not listening to us. Claims he has too much to do before he leaves for Portland. And while I understand that, I all of a sudden seem to have a million things to do that I didn't think about last week, he might find himself being very sorry that he didn't talk to Chuck sooner.
 
Robot Speed Dating!
So July 17th was Robot Speed Dating at ARGFest. And I have to say it was a total blast.

The festivities started quite a bit earlier than 6pm. The Hospitality Suite had all sorts of goodies with which we could make Robot Heads. Most people went with the standard square box, but Oraclle went all out and created an awesome Cylon Head. A few people fell into the 'this costume is so good, I don't need eyeholes' trap and paid for it a bit later.

At 6pm, we all went down to the Maple Room with our robot heads. Tanner, the new representative from Robot Friend Finder, explained the rules of Speed Dating. When we all entered the room, the program Love.EXE was installed on us. These were the keys to our hearts. We would need to go around and see if we could crack the puzzles of the other robots hearts. If we did, we got a point. We also had a couple of sealed subroutines that would also give us love points, but we could only use those once and there was the possibility that we would lose points. At the end, the robot with the most love points would win a special prize.

I thought the event went pretty smoothly, despite how chaotic it was in the room. I think it was a lot more fun trying to see who was free for a date rather than waiting for a specified time interval to switch. I think my biggest complaint would be that the awarding of points for the Love.EXE puzzles was a little misunderstood. Half of the room seemed to think if you solved your date's puzzle you got a point, while the other half thought the date got the point. I just ended up marking everyone's sheet if either one of us got a puzzle correct since it was more fun that way. §

So like I said, Speed Dating was a blast. I believe I got the first date with 011iver. I gave him two small gifts - one for him and one for Chuck so that he would have an excuse to make her see him. His Love.EXE was fairly easy (Find the arrow in the FedEx logo) while mine ended up stumping a lot of people. After I got my point from him, it was time to find someone else to date. Sadly, that was the last I got to really see 011iver in Portland. During the middle of the Speed Dating, he just ended up leaving. And I completely missed it because, at that exact moment, I was thrown a surprise RoboBaby Shower.
 
RoboBaby Shower
For the record, I would just like to state that I am not RoboPregnant. But that hasn't stopped certain individuals in chat (*cough*strifey*cough*) from spreading the rumor. In case you aren't a regular in #unfiction, the rumor is that when I went on my date with 011iver, somehow he knocked me up and I am pregnant with RoboTwins. There were even sonograms floating around the Hospitality Suite as "proof."

So, during the Speed Dating as I was standing there, minding my own business and looking for a new robot to date, when in walks Anthrax101 with a RoboBabyCake, flower, and a card "signed" by everyone in #unfiction who had plotted during the afternoon to throw me a shower. It was really quite hilarious that they managed to pull it off. I still have to read the chat logs to see who I need to plot revenge on in the future.
 
011ie's Revelation
It took a while for Tim to edit the video from the Speed Date. I wonder if it's because he was so tired from the rest of his weekend in Portland. Either that or trying to find some non-noisy footage from the Speed Date. It got really loud in the room at times. §

Hooray! 011ie loves Chuck! Now all he has to do is fly back to NYC and find her and tell her before she moves away thinking that he just thinks of her as a friend. Hopefully Chuck will actually let 011iver talk to her instead of just hiding away before she can move.
 
Passive Aggressive Chuck
Ever since 011ie got back from Portland, he's been trying to get back in touch with Chuck. The only problem is, she stopped taking his calls and blocked him on Twitter and completely started avoiding him. Poor 011ie. He sent out a mass email to everyone hoping that one of us could get in touch with Chuck and make her talk to 011ie. §

Sadly, right as he sent this, Chuck sent out a tweet stating that she wouldn't be able to check her messages for a while as she would be without internet access. Perfect. You don't think she's avoiding everyone who would tell her what an idiot she's being, do you?
 
Chuck's Leaving... With Glen!
Chuck finally got around to writing the blog post she promised us before she went Twitter silent, and it's not good. She's decided to leave town and move in with Glen. It seems that ever since the Megabot 9/Wingman incident, she's been hanging out with Glen. And not just hanging out, she's now dating Glen. And when Glen told her that he was moving, she just decided to go with him since she didn't have anything left for her in NYC. Talk about running away from your problems.

Of course, this announcement wasn't accepted very well by most of Chuck's new friends. She was yelled at quite a bit through Twitter, email and blog comments, but she was doing a pretty good job of making sure she avoided everything that would make her possibly change her mind, so sadly none of our messages got through to her. Makes me think that if she was really sure about her decision to leave with Glen, she wouldn't have cut herself off so completely from everyone. No one can make you change your mind if they can't find you.
 
Tired and Emoticon
011ie didn't take the news of Chuck leaving with Glen well at all. In fact, he's decided to give up on Chuck and love and the Must Love Robots blog. Luckily Tim was around with the Crazy Frog spinning top, Connect 4 and lots of Pabst Blue Ribbon to distract 011ie from feeling so down. And through most of the video, 011ie looks pretty distracted playing Connect 4 and the banjo and singing with Tim. §

Except of course 011ie can only stay distracted for so long. At the end of the video he's still pining for Chuck and doesn't understand why she would just leave without talking to him. Poor 011ie. Totally breaks my heart to see him like that. Even Tim can see how badly he's hurting and wants us to call 011ie on his cell phone to convince him to go after Chuck. But if 011ie is as stubborn as Chuck is, that's going to be an uphill battle.
 
Chasing Chuck
So Chuck is finally leaving NYC. She tweeted that she would be leaving at 9pm giving us only a few more hours to track her down and convince her to at least listen to what 011ie had to say to her. But we still had no idea where she was. Until she started posting photos from all of her favorite places from the City as she made her way to the train. Now we would be able to tell 011iver exactly where she was and hopefully he would be able to run and track her down!
  • Location #1 - 011iver, in his panic, couldn't remember that this was Grand Army Plaza so by the time that he got there, she was already gone.
  • Location #2 - Next Chuck headed to the Brooklyn Bridge for one last walk across it. Poor 011ie ran across it twice looking for her, but no luck.
  • Location #3 - Chuck went down to Battery Park for a last look at the Statue of Liberty. 011ie must have spent too much time running up and down the Brooklyn Bridge because by the time he got to Battery Park, she was almost at her next location.
  • Location #4 - Luckily 011ie knew from our description of the clock and the Whole Foods that Chuck had gone to Union Square. But it was really crowded and he couldn't see her anywhere.
  • Location #5 and #6 - Chuck went by Rockefeller Center to see Radio City Music Hall and the Prometheus statue. 011ie continued running after her.
  • Location #7 - Chuck arrives in Times Square with a few minutes to spare before her train leaves. She texts 011iver to tell him good-bye as she's just about ready to leave the City. I bet she didn't think that he would have been so close to her to stop her. Luckily 011ie was only a couple of blocks away and was able to catch up with her.
And then the waiting for the video began - because of course no one could just tell us over Twitter if Chuck decided to stay with 011iver or leave with Glen. Bastiages.
 
Robots Must Have Love
So this it. The very last Must Love Robots video. Does 011ie get the girl? Does Chuck stay second fiddle to the monkey? Why is Tim wearing a pink shirt? Now we get to find out! Okay, so maybe we don't find out why Tim is wearing pink, but the rest we totally do. Plus, we also get a download of the new Tobor song which is extremely hilarious. §

Hooray! Chuck and 011ie are together! Of course, could it have ended any other way? It's not like this could have suddenly turned into a horror movie where 011ie goes over to Glen's place and finds Chuck brutally murdered with bird feathers and crickets everywhere. Right?

So that's the end. And it's bittersweet because as happy as I am that 011ie and Chuck did get together, I'm sad that the game is ending. I adored this game so much. Not just because it was a well written and well executed ARG, but also because the characters were so believable that I really did find myself becoming friends with 011ie, Tim and Chuck. Of course I do know that is in no small part due to fact that Tanner, Jim and Courtney did such a marvelous job voicing them. At least I can console myself now knowing that I have made three new friends (four if you add Jim Senderhauf) - and better ones at that since they're real and not fictional.

So congratulations to everyone involved on such an amazing game. You have pretty much ruined my chances of ever finding a new ARG to play again as I will be wanting the same high quality story and writing and production in future games which I know that 95% of PuppetMasters today just can't produce. But that's okay - because I wouldn't have missed this game for the world.
 
Credits
Must Love Robots

Created By Jim Babb
and Tanner Ringerud

Executive Producer
Rhys Mussman

Written By
Jim Babb
Tanner Ringerud
Courtney Elle
Jim Senderhauf

Starring
Ken Amarit as Robot Porn Director
Jim Babb as Tim Scribbles
Raoul Caes as Glen
Courtney Elle as Chuck Quartz
Jessica Floeh as Girl Robot
Dru Johnston as Carol Coldoil
Jake Kalos as Boy Robot and Robophobe Hick
Tanner Ringerud as 011iver
Jim Senderhauf as Pastor Ned Ludd

Girls Brave Enough To Go On Dates With A Robot
Rowan Lambelle (the human)
Max Weselcouch (the cyborg)
Cassie Newman (the being of pure energy)

Original Music By
Geof Benson (as Tobor the 808th Man)
Jim Senderhauf (as Ned Ludd)

Robot Speed Dating Coordinators
Sean Stacey
Michelle Senderhauf
Glen Czaplewski

Special Thanks To... Well, there are too many of you to thank...

So thanks to everyone who contributed,
and to everyone who showed up for Robot Speed Dating in Portland.

Thanks to ARG community for playing along,
and to our friends for putting up with our antics,
and to our parents for giving birth to us,
and to musicians nice enough to license their music under creative commons,
and to everyone else who supported us.

In memory of Dave Szulborski
We were never fortunate enough to have known him,
but his guidance was essential in everything we've done.
 
Puppetmaster Chat
The PM chat with the cast of Must Love Robots was held on the 99th ARG Netcast. Jim Babb, Tanner Ringerud, Courtney Sadler, Jim Senderhauf and Raoul Caes answered our questions live via the ARG Netcast Ustream channel. Even though us live viewers experienced audio issues during the recording (not that we blame you for it, jamesi), the podcast audio is great so make sure you download it and listen.

And now I guess we really do have to say good-bye. *Sniff* :(
 
See the Intro page for a list of all the websites, plus brief information about this guide and the game.