[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

Major kudos to Darren and his team for revealing a bit about what’s behind the curtain, and helping people understand what they are all about. I suspect this great PR will help spread the word even further. The article made me very excited to see Ascension

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

Also, if agreeable, I would love to reproduce part of what you said (Ill take out all personal references, if you’d like) on the site, and add some of my own commentary (much like what I just wrote above), to shed some more light onto the whole thing, and give you a voice on the site. I don’t want it to be one-sided, I would love to help push what you guys aim to do out there!

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@thecreator First of all, thank you for taking the time to respond. That was extremely nice of you, and helped to shed some light on things. I do very much appreciate it.

Again, let me state that I want nothing more than for this entire thing to succeed. As you mentioned, I am still engaged, so that fact alone should show that I am interested, and want to see this through to the end.

You are correct, it is YOUR business, so apologies if I was out of line by saying that earlier. As a lover of these immersive experiences, I really do want all of them to succeed and be fantastic, and that does include Tension. Saying what I did was not a swipe at you, nor was it meant to be, so apologies if it was taken that way.

It is obvious that the folks who love immersive experiences are a passionate, devoted bunch, as is evidenced by everyone on this forum. No one wants a carbon copy of any of the other experiences out there, nor would they appreciate it. They want something new.

None of my comments were meant to offend, harm, or so on. I was trying to make a point, one that, when someone is so ingrained into something, may not be able to see clearly. I just wanted to make aware of what others have been saying, and if that makes me a jerk for being the mouthpiece, so be it. But my intentions behind it were pure…Tension has created something unique, and truly amazing with this prologue, and I cannot deny that. Good, bad, indifferent, people are talking about it, and really, at the end of the day, that is what matters.

I absolutely will be attending Ascension, and will absolutely will keep that review its own thing, separate from anything else I had experienced here.

You all are talented artists as well. I may not understand it all, or have been following it all, but really, the man power and creativity to do what has already been accomplished by you is mind-boggling, and I respect the hell out of you for that.

Also, I am now starting a petition to get Russell on TV, period. Late Night with Russell Eaton.

Again, thank you for taking the time to chime in and clarifying some points. And again, I apologize if I came off harsh, or offended you, or anyone else for that matter. I want this is be amazingly successful, despite how it may seem on the surface level.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@111_error I DO Remember you, because you were right there with us! it was a fun moment for sure, I cannot deny that!

@thebuz Just to clarify, I came in at the beginning, but did not get to attend any functions until the mixer due to most of them taking place during the day and I have work (and Martina wasn’t given the address for the “red room” one). So, I had been following the events, loosely, online after that, until we finally got invited to the mixer. I do think dense and convoluted are pretty interchangeable here, though. Most of you guys and gals are pretty deep into this, but try to see it from an outsider’s perspective, and see if it becomes daunting to someone who has not been following the story line.

I do appreciate their rich mythology, as it is something I can fully get behind, but it’s part of the reason that there is this smaller Tension community…it is extremely dense to get through it all.

Think of it like LOST…if you came into Season 4, you’d have to really go through all 3 season before hand to understand what was going on.

Please don’t take this as me being combative, because I’m not at all. I just want to show that it’s not easy for folks to get into this based on the long history of it since February.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@mcolyard Not rude at all! I don’t think they “owe” me anything, honestly.

However, as someone who has tried to get into it, and doesn’t have the hours or man power to catch up, read, watch, and re-visit everything they have done in the past few months, I find it very off-putting to new people coming in. As per their press release, they want ASCENSION to run for 6 months. However, they cannot survive for 6 months off of you guys alone. They need John Q. Public to get behind them, too. However, most John Q. Publics aren’t going to spend the time to read the massive backstory to understand an event they pay $130 for.

Also, point of clarification: I don’t mean to come off as curmudgeon about this. I WANT to like this. I love immersive experiences, I love ARGs, I love all of that stuff. And I get the point of them not wanting to hold anyone’s hand. But they are isolating their main audience base (not meaning you all) by all of this. I’m not saying that to be combative or mean; I have spoken to many folks who enjoy these types of things who have just plain given up on this because they do not have the time for it all, or had unpleasant encounters with them in some way.

At the end of the day, the people behind Tension are just that: people. They obviously love immersive theater, and these types of experiences. I know they are trying the best they can to keep up with it and create this world for people to enjoy.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@Blondie Again, as mentioned, there is literally so much going on at once, especially in the panel, that much of what I wrote done was jumbled. Even WITH a notebook, I had to remember these things from memory due to everything being so convoluted.

@electrichippo I am intrigued by the people infatuated with Tension and their devotion to it, so of course I am open to a dialogue about it. I want to know why it speaks to so many of you, while many others looking in from the outside are like “Huh?” Also, you are awfully nice about the discussion, so no reason for anyone to be hostile in responding!

But, again, as I spoke about earlier, so much has happened during Tension that I cannot keep up with it. I assumed the murder happened on Periscope, as they often do many things on there. I thought it was a Periscope recording that was uploaded to YouTube. Was it just on YouTube then? I have no idea who Tom is in the larger narrative, so I didn’t connect the name to any of the people on stage. I also asked Russell and Mike if they knew they were going to be on stage, and was told that they did not. Perhaps they misunderstood when I asked them?

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

As mentioned in the write up, so much went on, so quickly that keeping the names and places straight was a chore. I called him “Al” because I forgot his name, as I did say. Also, I thought it was Wisconsin from my memory. However, apologies for putting the wrong city. The intention of what she said remains the same, though.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@electrichippo None taken, but might I ask what facts are incorrect in what I wrote?

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

Thank you @megan for articulating it better than I have! Haha

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@electrichippo I completely understand where you are coming from with that. I know that certain things can create communities, and I can absolutely vouch for that, for it has happened to me (Blackout Survivors, ALONE folks, etc). I do appreciate that aspect of it. And I agree that there are the general feelings and aspect of the trust, betrayal, and so on that are easy to pick up on here. That makes total sense for people taking a quick glance at this. You do get out of it whatever you put into it. But again, at the end of the day, this is business for them. They are selling tickets to an event. The public at large is having a difficult time digesting any of this, and are hesitant to purchase tickets to something that seems dense and daunting to them, despite their claims that you do not need the backstory to understand the show. From a creative perspective, what they are doing is brilliant, no doubt. From a community perspective, it’s great because it brings this group together. From a business and marketing perspective, they aren’t winning any favors amongst the haunt community.

None of that is by ANY means a diss at anyone here, nor Tension overall. Just an observation that has been made not just by me, but many others.

But you are right, the infatuation of Tension by some people IS fascinating, and worth exploring. It’s a study in the making of sorts, and it is actually pretty neat how this thing was created, and people latched onto it in such a way. (using the words “infatuation” and “latched on” makes it seem like a negative connotation, but It’s not, I promise!)

@jake O God damn it jake! haha.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

Actually, Andrew, your pieces were some of the few I HAVE read before, especially before coming to the mixer at the VFW hall a few months back!

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

I’m sure the point has been raised before, but you also have to remember that many members of the public are turned off to even giving the event a chance because of the long story line presented so far and the price point. While Ascension may be enjoyed by all, that’s not really being conveyed.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

@thegilded I understand your points, and agree with what you said. However, I DO love non-traditional storytelling. There are plenty of other experiences that employ this type of thing, and I have no issues with it whatsoever. I think it’s more of being off-put by the vastness of the story behind it. As I said in a previous comment, it’s great for you guys, but for the general public to catch up on everything before doing their event, it’s just not feasible.

[Jeff HeimbuchParticipant]

You are correct, maybe I should have asked. However, at this point, I am used to asking for “clarification” on things from Tension, and getting the cold shoulder, haha.

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