You guys want an explanation?

Erpy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 10:42 am

Boy, I bet people are just dying to hear an explanation. I was tempted to just wait for people to come with questions, but I guess it's better to just tell the whole story right away and then answer questions if things aren't clear. I guess I can confirm it now officially. Yeah, there IS indeed a voice pack for KQ2+. This 30 MB file is obtainable from Tierra's website as I'm typing this. Having tested it myself, I can honestly proclaim this as an awesome enhancement to the game. (but I mentioned that in the prank-thread already, didn't I?) I believe the voice pack has been worked on since august last year. (before KQ2+ came out) So despite what some may be thinking, it was definitely a lot of work. Then again, something being a lot of work isn't always a reason not to pull something off. This is especially true for Tierra. As the voice pack neared completion, the idea arose (I won't mention the EXACT source since we'd have to put that person under a witness-protection program after this whole thing) to combine its release with an april fools prank. What happened on the forums yesterday was the combination of an official announcement, an april fools prank and a PR-stunt. I hope that, after all the mayhem we've been causing, people can still look back at the whole thing and smile. On the internet, lots of 4-1 pranks are born every year. Lots of people are already used to this and tend to be suspicious towards any odd announcements on this date. We thought it'd be a fun idea to apply a bit of reverse-psychology and actually aim the prank at the naturally-suspicious people, rather than at the visitors who were ready to believe whatever we said. That would surely gain us a lot more "victims" than an ordinary prank would. This was also a safe way to go. If nobody would fall for it (i.e: would go around proclaiming that it was an obvious hoax) we could always pretend that the announcement date was nothing but a coincidence. What we wanted to make people believe was indeed that the announcement was an obvious hoax. I took a couple of subtle actions to strengthen people in that believe. A couple of examples: - Yep, I was winking when I made the announcement. <blockquote>Quote:<hr> Heh, I guess you guys now know the advantage of being a regular here. With luck, you may get your grubby hands on the speech pack before the rest of the world finds out. <hr></blockquote> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> To avoid cluttering up, please keep all voicepack-related talk, questions and reactions within this particular thread. <hr></blockquote> - We wanted to give people the impression that this whole thing was just a joke we were playing on our own community and that the rest of the internet had nothing to do with it. This impression was quite false, since this announcement "leaking" to other forums was planned in advance. I contacted the people who announced this subject on the AGS-forums, JA-forums, AG-forums and KQ9-forums. This would give the whole thing a bit of publicity and would also create an image of a prank that leaked out against the original intent of the people who thought it up. Additionally, it would attract a few more spectators/participants to the discussion. (have you guys seen the amount of views of the topic?) Finally and most importantly, it would justify the sudden presence of quite a few unregistered posters. (quite convenient, really) - The discussion in that thread was manipulated quite a bit. The AGDs and I have been posting several messages and the people we made part of the conspiracy also added their 2 cents to toss the thread into the right direction. At first, I wanted to steer the thread to the initial enthusiasm so Navynuke (who posted it on the AGS-boards) and "SirKrawlie" (me) posted some positive messages. After the initial few posts, "Chaos213" (me also) decided to steer the thread towards skepticism and wondered if the whole thing wasn't a prank. After the next few bogus-posts, I decided to let it back down a little and let JohntheDon notify us of the fact that it was on several forums already and that Tierra wouldn't take the risk of posting something that would have the potential to spread that quickly. AGD1 chimed in with the "whoops, it spread?" and I (as Maddog) replied that it was posted on the JA-forum and that some suckers fell for it. (skepticism was the direction this thread had to go in order for us to have fun) You'll also notice that Kurt, Das Jan, Navynuke and Gronagor posted a couple of things to keep the thread on the course we wanted it to go. As an interesting surprise, Questforgloryfourandonehalf posted too. (and because AGD1 and AGD2 emulated this guy's writing style so well, I really thought it was him for a moment) Finally, the AGDs and I took turns in keeping the thread on the designed course by abusing ourselves under the disguise of "thehiddenone". And after my statement that this was all a prank, "Alex" (AGDs) opened fire upon me with lots of angry smilies. All this time, I took care not to post on the forum under my own account. - As april the 2nd came upon us, we realized it was time to drop the whole thing, but not before the climax. So we heated up the discussion further and I started posting. I've been careful not to make my statements clash with the truth, yet VERY easy to misinterpret. <blockquote>Quote:<hr> Wow. I might have underestimated the attention this whole thing would get. While there was a fair chance to begin with that this would quickly spread across the internet, I didn't expect it to pop up on four other forums within a matter of hours. <hr></blockquote> Sure, I was the one behind the "leaking", but I was still surprised that some of the announcements followed up my initial post so quickly. <blockquote>Quote:<hr> One thing is for sure: the fact that this thread was created on april the 1st was not a coincidence. But I guess most of you already figured that out. <hr></blockquote> I think this one speaks for itself. <blockquote>Quote:<hr> Solid statement, eh? Very well. Yes. This whole thing has been part of a prank we've been playing, I'm afraid. <hr></blockquote> Was this whole thing part of a prank? Hell yeah!!!! (about "speech pack is currently copied") <blockquote>Quote:<hr> Copied to the mirrors? And me announcing it? As much as I'd like to confirm that, I'd be lying. <hr></blockquote> It wasn't "currently copied" at that time. It was already on the servers at the beginning of the day. And I didn't announce it. I waited for someone else to discover it. The final post was something AGD2 wrote as I decided to lock it. It was well enough at that point. I must admit T-Knight was quite close with his assumptions. About "the other hiddenone", it was the result of a misunderstanding with a host. An unexpected event, but AGD1 or AGD2 debunked his post by making a statement under the same username after I gagged him/her with an IP-ban which I lifted an hour later. There were no bad intentions behind it after all and I merely wanted to prevent him from accidently screwing things up. Most of the discussions in the other forums weren't as big as this one was, although there were still a few comments about how obvious the hoax was and how bad and unfunny the joke. (exactly what we were aiming for) Needless to say that we've been rolling over the floor laughing while reading (and posting) in the thread(s). As I mentioned before, now that you guys know the whole story (or most of it at least), I hope you'll be able to re-read the thread with a grin on your face. WE certainly found it funny and enjoyable, but maybe our humor's just a bit messed up. Before closing off this whole thing, I'd like to thank Jan, Dimi, Navynuke and Gron for their "input" on either other forums or this one. I'd like to thank the development team for the amazing add-on they have produced and recorded. I'd like to thank the two ex-Sierra employees involved for their amazing acting contributions and of course the other voice actors as well. (most notably Kurt and Maghrabi, two members of our own forum) Finally, I'd like to thank all people who became involved in our little prank for making us laugh. (very long and very hard) <img src="http://httpd.chello.nl/c.vanempel/Nashnorm.jpg"/> Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub57.ezboard.com/broyalquestforums.showUserPublicProfile?gid=erpy@royalquestforums>Erpy</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/icon.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 4/3/03 8:27:41 am

El Ravager · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:02 am

Kudos, Erpy. The reverse [sychology worked great. You definitely fooled me. You fooled quite a few people two-fold. Wonderfully executed prank. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> Kurt: You said in the other thread that they had offered to let you work on the speech pack, or something to that regard. I'm assuming that means you recorded your voice for the game? Just out of curiosity, assuming your voice is in the pack, what character did you do? Tierra: Kurt said that he had been contacted concerning the SP in August, a whopping four months before the game's release. Was all that talk about "difficulty in re-scripting the game" just talk to make the SP release more of a surprise, or were you serious, and considered it worth it to make a speech pack? ~El Ravager~ <img src="http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/gandalfsigtag.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

adeyke · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:04 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Kurt: You said in the other thread that they had offered to let you work on the speech pack, or something to that regard. I'm assuming that means you recorded your voice for the game? Just out of curiosity, assuming your voice is in the pack, what character did you do?<hr></blockquote> He's King Edward.

Erpy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:05 am

Kurt played the role of young king Ed. Mags played the role of Angelina. And we started working on the voice pack in august, but Kurt and Mags were contacted in january, I believe. It WAS quite a lot of work and the time between the release and this day was largely dedicated to tweaking the game and recording some more voices. FYI, since all voices are recorded in a different way, each bloody recording had to be edited. <img src="http://httpd.chello.nl/c.vanempel/Nashswt.jpg"/> p.s: AGD1's statement of Gemini's being manipulative when bored was pretty darn inaccurate. I WAS DEFINITELY NOT BORED! <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":b"> Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub57.ezboard.com/broyalquestforums.showUserPublicProfile?gid=erpy@royalquestforums>Erpy</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/icon.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 4/3/03 5:09:16 am

Kurdt · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:14 am

Not to mention my Pisces' compassion. I felt sorry for all of you people and almost cracked, like, 6 times before someone finally realized the hoax. ----------------------- Cris Skelton Newsletter and Plot Writer Kings Quest IX: Every Cloak Has a Silver Lining <img src="http://www.sighost.us/members/thelongwayhome/strongbad3b.JPG"/> "Check me ooouuuut!!...No, seriously, check me out."

MuzlakOofmay · **Joined:** Mon Nov 25, 2002 5:14 am **Posts:** 1356

GAH!!! I am SO CONFUSED STILL! I read the post twice, and I don't understand! So there is a speech pack, and I was on the right track with symbolism? You simply wanted everything up until this point to be the april fools joke, and simply waited for the day to announce it? That was what I was getting at. Is there a voice pack? <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Actually, I have mixed feelings. I'm not going to be holding my breath. But I remember reading in interviews several of times that they had "tricks up their sleeves." Perhaps they waited to April 1st as a symbolic purpose, like, "We've been tricking you all this time, now we're going to tell you the truth!" kind of a thing. I don't know. I'm not holding my breath.<hr></blockquote> Ok.... I just checked the download page (you still need to make a news entry) OH.... I guess too many downloads in a day! DURN! I am so excited... <img src="http://www.nancycarterdesign.com/bryce/pimpbot.gif" style="border:0;"/> ---------- <a href="http://www.nancycarterdesign.com/spongefactory/" target="top">Sponge Factory</a>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub57.ezboard.com/broyalquestforums.showUserPublicProfile?gid=muzlakoofmay>MuzlakOofmay</A> at: 4/3/03 5:39:47 am

malekdarshin · **Joined:** Sun Jan 12, 2003 9:42 am **Posts:** 103

I thought it was a pretty good joke even before I found out it was true. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> And everyone at Tierra deserves to have a good laugh over this. The least we can all do is be the butt of a joke. <hr /><div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://malekdarshin.homestead.com/files/card.jpg" style="border:0;"/></div> <div style="text-align:center"><a href="http://pub49.ezboard.com/fgaminggroundzerofrm12"><img src="http://malekdarshin.homestead.com/files/junki.gif" style="border:0;"alt="The Junki Knights of Junkyardia."/></a></div>

adeyke · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:40 am

There is a voice pack. It can be downloaded from the KQ2 page of Tierra's site. The gist of the joke is that those skeptics who "realized" that it was such an obvious hoax are the ones who were fooled.

MuzlakOofmay · **Joined:** Mon Nov 25, 2002 5:14 am **Posts:** 1356

Do we have any mirrors?!? I want SO BADLY to see it now. <img src="http://www.nancycarterdesign.com/bryce/pimpbot.gif" style="border:0;"/> ---------- <a href="http://www.nancycarterdesign.com/spongefactory/" target="top">Sponge Factory</a>

Vildern · **Joined:** Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:21 am **Posts:** 3539

I have nothing on my download page...... Another bad joke? <img src="http://navynuke.netfirms.com/ezboard/vildern.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

MuzlakOofmay · **Joined:** Mon Nov 25, 2002 5:14 am **Posts:** 1356

Now one big question still remains: Why in the world was I not let in on this. I mean, for crying out loud, all hands down, I have to be the coolest person here. JK! Ps: Erpy said in Tierra.... thread in KQ2 forum that he was told something else, but couldn't remember it. Was this what you were refering to? <img src="http://www.nancycarterdesign.com/bryce/pimpbot.gif" style="border:0;"/> ---------- <a href="http://www.nancycarterdesign.com/spongefactory/" target="top">Sponge Factory</a>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub57.ezboard.com/broyalquestforums.showUserPublicProfile?gid=muzlakoofmay>MuzlakOofmay</A> at: 4/3/03 6:01:54 am

Kurdt · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 12:04 pm

Vildern: I had the same problem (although I got it in advance of the release, but still). Just right click and reload the page and it'll all be cool. ----------------------- Cris Skelton Newsletter and Plot Writer Kings Quest IX: Every Cloak Has a Silver Lining <img src="http://www.sighost.us/members/thelongwayhome/strongbad3b.JPG"/> "Check me ooouuuut!!...No, seriously, check me out."

rugged · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 12:05 pm

What a fantastic afj !!! What is even more amazing is that you have been able to keep the fact that a speech pack was being released quiet for so long. With the way the tierra rumor mill works that is quite a feat. Well done erpy!! What a well planned and executed joke.

the sniggering mason · **Joined:** Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:16 pm **Posts:** 25

Now that was a really good Aprils fool joke! <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"> See I'm using multiple smilies. I don't normaly do that!!! And multiple exclamation marks, which I consider to be a sure sign of mental illness!!!! WELL DONE TIERRA, WELL DONE ERPY! Thank you and godnight! /Mason

Erpy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 2:33 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Erpy said in Tierra.... thread in KQ2 forum that he was told something else, but couldn't remember it. Was this what you were refering to? <hr></blockquote> Yep. I didn't have the latest KQ2-readme with me at that moment, so I had to leave out the "minor" changes. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"> <img src="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/Nashhah.jpg"/>

The LucasFan · **Joined:** Wed Jul 17, 2002 5:07 pm **Posts:** 63

Erpy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 3:33 pm

Discredit would be too big a word. I clarified that the AGDs made that post after all. <img src="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/Nashcock.jpg"/>

Alex Lowes · **Joined:** Thu Nov 29, 2001 4:24 pm **Posts:** 11

Hip Hip horay!! Hip Hip horay!!<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"> (can I tell them)

navynuke04 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 5:07 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Of course I knew it was for real the entire time... really, I did! <hr></blockquote> Don't hate me... t'was only a joke! A pat on the back goes out to the unnamed one who thought up this joke to begin with! And to Erpy and the AGD's for executing it so well! What an awesome AFJ! I'm glad I could help and take part in it!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin">  <hr /> "Without the fleet, the contest would be on our home grounds, and war is one contest in which it is best to be on the visiting team." -ADM Nimitz  <img src="http://navynuke.netfirms.com/ezboard/sub.gif" style="border:0;"/>

Vildern · **Joined:** Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:21 am **Posts:** 3539

Thank you, Kurt. It was fast, with the speed of 90KB-110KB, I got it within 5-10 minutes. <img src="http://navynuke.netfirms.com/ezboard/vildern.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

Jafar · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 6:43 pm

<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"> Next your going to finish the narrator in Kings Quest 1.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"> (Are you?!?!?)

dimidimidimi14 · **Joined:** Thu Jan 09, 2003 5:36 am **Posts:** 29

I also had lots of fun during this whole joke. Yesterday morning I and the rest of the people who were in the hoax-job received an e-mail from Erpy telling us that the speech pack is already available from the downloads page but we shouldn't tell it to anybody because they wanted to see if someone would notice it first. I wanted to scream and shout to the people OPEN YOUR EYES AND GO TO THE DOWNLOAD PAGE but I couldn't. Reminded me of the adventure I have no mouth and I must scream (although I have never played it <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"> ) Excellent speech pack Tierra and Erpy well done on a good planning and execution of the joke <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

Erpy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 7:08 pm

Heh, I know what you mean. And so does Kurt. There was this voicepack (with his recordings included) available for download, but everybody refused to believe it was there. It's a good thing it was discovered, or Kurt would have been through a nervous breakdown. Actually, it wasn't available from the download page yesterday morning yet. (at least, it wasn't morning at my place nor at yours) The speech pack was uploaded onto the mirrors at that particular point, but we didn't update the download page until shortly after I locked the prank-thread. <img src="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/Nashhapy.jpg"/> Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub57.ezboard.com/broyalquestforums.showUserPublicProfile?gid=erpy@royalquestforums>Erpy</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/icon.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 4/3/03 1:11:26 pm

Vildern · **Joined:** Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:21 am **Posts:** 3539

........ ........ .......... Playing with the voice pack is like playing a new game... It's nice. It would be nice to finish the game again, if only just to listen to the Count and Anastasia and know how they sound like... and in the ending, there is this part I like when the dwarf says 'hampf' and the librarian says 'shooo!' - it would be interesting to see how this part is like with voices... Who made the voices? Who's little Possum? Who's Grandma? Who's the count? Who's Ana?.......... and Who's Hagatha? <img src="http://navynuke.netfirms.com/ezboard/vildern.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

Erpy · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2003 8:09 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>it would be interesting to see how this part is like with voices...<hr></blockquote> I guess that means you haven't downloaded it yet, hmm? Little Possum: AGD1 Grandma: Don't remember Caldaur: Richard Aronson Anastasia: AGD1 Hagatha: AGD2 (yeah, Hagatha was voiced by a guy. I guess AGD2 can be bitchy if he wants to) The complete list is revealed if you click the credits-button on the main menu. <img src="http://members.chello.nl/c.vanempel/Nashtell.jpg"/>

You guys want an explanation?

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