Lost ARG 2008 – Part 18

Apparently it ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. Rather than a crescendo it simply fizzles out. I received another e-mail which pretty much stuck the final nail in the coffin of the whole Octagon Global Recruiting business to morph the ARG into a teaser campaign for the upcoming Season.

The e-mail, from ‘ABC & Dharma Special Access’:

Dharma Initiative present Dharma Special Access with Damon and Carlton

Good morning guys,

This is the first of our weekly messages to you leading up to the premiere of the fifth season of LOST. As you may have heard, the current financial crisis has led to the demise of the newly reconstituted Dharma Initiative. Without going through all the details here, we now own the Dharma Initiative.

You’re thinking, “Great, what does this have to do with me?” We didn’t want to leave Dharma Recruits high and dry, so we decided to start something we’re calling Dharma Special Access (DSA).

Every week leading up to the premiere we’re going to e-mail you with exclusive LOST content, information about the upcoming season and details about what’s going on here at LOST behind the scenes.

This week we have a few things for you: a video message from us, the LOST starter kit and a behind-the-scenes video of the LOST Kubrick signing event held with all the LOST writers last week at Meltdown Comics here in Los Angeles. To check it out, click on the link below and enter the password.

This content is only going to Dharma Recruits first. It will be available to you guys exclusively for 48 hours before it’s officially posted anywhere else.

We hope you’ll enjoy your special DSA access (even though that’s doubly redundant). We think we have a lot of cool stuff for you guys right up until the show is back on Wednesday, January 21st. In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving. Talk to you soon.

Best,

Damon and Carlton

So.

Lost ARG 2008.

Dumped down the toilet. Flopped. Disregarded. Turned into nothing more than a promotion tool. Do we participants have the right to be disappointed? Yeah, sure. I mean, let’s not go overboard. I don’t expect to see Darlton’s heads on a stick over the matter – it was just a free game designed to keep us ticking over until Season 5 started. I’m not crying my eyes out or beating the ground in frustration over the matter!

But still, it’s a shame. Let’s just hope it’s not an indicator of how the show itself may go – with good ideas and plans being ditched at the drop of a hat when they don’t appear to be going too well, leaving people hanging.

So that’s that. What does this mean for me, here? Or you, reading? Well, it signals the end of the ‘Lost 2008 ARG’ series I’ve been running here. That’s died a death and there’s no sense keeping it propped up. In it’s place I’ll be running ‘Dharma Special Access’ updates, where I’ll check out the 'exciting' teasers and information, post the videos if I can, and discuss what the content may mean for the upcoming Season 5. If any of it appears redundant, boring or crap I won't report it here. Just the good stuff!

That’ll be up and running within a day or two. For here, for now: Lost ARG 2008 R.I.P.