{"id":592,"date":"2022-09-10T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T06:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/?p=592"},"modified":"2023-05-12T12:49:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T11:49:00","slug":"fleshgate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/fleshgate\/","title":{"rendered":"Fleshgate"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Text by Maxime Weber)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018[crumbs] Diggin\u2019 It #17: Fleshgate\u2019 | <\/strong>2,583,302 views | <\/strong>Uploaded five days ago | <\/strong>Private<\/em><\/p>\n

[00:00:00] Evening, Chat. Wait a second. Forgot my drink in the kitchen. Be right back. Welcome to the stream. Tonight, we got round 17 of \u2018Diggin\u2019 It<\/em>\u2019 coming up. \u2018how are you doing crumbs?\u2019 I\u2019m doing fine! Thank you for asking, Darkflamemaster Death<\/em>. Just ate some pizza with Joe. Self-made. Of course. Now he\u2019s dozing on the couch. So you guys have to be quiet. Either way. For all those who are new to the stream: \u00a0Diggin\u2019 It<\/em> is a monthly series where we explore abandoned places on the internet. Mostly MMOs. But also some old message boards and forums here and there that have been deserted for years. It\u2019s basically virtual archaeology. Today, we are going to explore a little online game from 1999 called Fleshgate<\/em>. I\u2019ve never actually played it, but I\u2019ve had one of the ads for the game stuck in the back of my mind for the longest time. It had this warrior in chain armor fighting off an alien that looked like one of those deep-sea creatures with the thin, endless limbs that go all the way down to the bottom of the sea. Can\u2019t remember the name. \u2018bigfin squid\u2019. That\u2019s it! Thank you, Gabe<\/em>. If I remember the game\u2019s lore correctly, that warrior-guy\u2019s planet was invaded by these squid things. So the people there started crafting spaceships on their own with the help of magic and paid the aliens a visit. The ad had this typical 90s look with 3D renders and hyper-realistic textures. Like the ones they made for Super Mario 64<\/em>. Creeped the hell out of my 12- or 13-year-old-self back in the day. \u2018little crumbs was shitting his pants cuz of a squid lmao\u2019 Only partially. It was mostly the landscape around them that really put me off. They were in this valley, with a completely black night-sky above them. And in the background, you could see these elongated, white structures. They kind of reminded me of giant teeth. Or sabers. There was something off about the way the valley looked, too. It was like \u2026 the boulders and slopes seemed to have more solidity and weight to them than they should. More than they have in real life, even. I don\u2019t really know how to explain it. Either way. For the longest time, I thought I hallucinated that ad and the game. I have never seen anyone else cover it online, either. Then someone in Chat brought it up during the last Diggin\u2019 It<\/em> stream, and I remembered it. So I looked up the game\u2019s Wikipedia page. And \u2026 just listen to this. \u2018The overall game design and world of Fleshgate<\/em> were deeply influenced by the beliefs of its developer, William Everett Spencer (known professionally as W.E.S.<\/em>). During the 80s, while he was still working as a computer scientist, Spencer began developing a philosophical system centered around the idea of the so-called Fleshspace<\/em>. As Spencer argues in his eponymous book from 1987, Fleshspace<\/em> designates the metaphysical foundation of empirical reality: \u201cFlesh, or materiality, is the base of all there is. There is nothing more compelling, nothing more self-evident than things taking up space and having a body. This has led me to the conclusion that our own universe is only an abstraction of a primal reality that is even more material, more physical.<\/em>\u201d So that already explains the weird art style of the game\u2019s promotional material. But it gets even better. \u2018Spencer considered Fleshgate<\/em> the conclusion of his philosophical work, even going so far as proclaiming that the game represents a way of experiencing the Fleshspace: \u201cUnlike any other art form, computer games allow us to extend the reach of our body into spaces beyond our own reality, our own world. I can feel the rigidity of another planet\u2019s grounds under my character\u2019s feet when I move them. I can feel the resistance of strange stones under the hands of my avatar. I can feel the pull of alien tides when I swim in the virtual world.<\/em>\u201d Spencer also specifically envisioned Fleshgate<\/em> as a MMO because he wanted players to experience the Fleshspace collectively, similar to liturgical services. Despite numerous in-game allusions and some unverified reports by players who claimed to have seen it, there has never been any definite proof for the existence of an in-game place or event that resembles the Fleshgate <\/em>as described by Spencer.\u2019 So. Now you know why I had to get a copy and play it on stream. Let\u2019s see what mysteries this game has in store for us. Maybe we\u2019ll even catch a glimpse of the infamous Fleshgate. \u2018hey first time watcher here i DIG ur stream a lot hehe instant sub\u2019 Thank you so much, Meridian_95<\/em>! Great username, by the way. One of my favourite MMOs ever. \u2018thx, whats the story behind ur name?\u2019 I used to bake a lot with my grandma. She raised me, actually. Sweetest person ever. We\u2019d do apple pies. Gingerbread. Blueberry muffins. Pizza, too. Afterwards I\u2019d eat them so fast I\u2019d get crumbs all over myself. So Nan just started calling me crumbs<\/em>. And that nickname has stuck with me forever since. I still like baking, too. Even wanted to start my own bakery chain after graduating from business school. Would have been much easier to explain as a career choice to my grandma than this here, for sure. There\u2019s the title screen. I like the melancholic music. Gives off strong Jeremy Soule vibes. Chat asks what Joe calls me. Crumbs<\/em>, of course. I don\u2019t think he even knows my real name anymore. Let\u2019s see if we can join a server. There\u2019s still one up! Zero players online. Seems like we got the whole server for ourselves. \u2018Create character\u2019. Let\u2019s see the classes. Void Sailor<\/em>. Flesh Pilgrim<\/em>. Harlequin Dancer<\/em> and \u2026 Scout<\/em>. Very anti-climactic. Chat wants me to go with that one. Of course. I call him \u2026 crumbs 2: even more crumbs.<\/em> \u2018World loading\u2019. Here we are. We\u2019ve got some timbered houses. A fountain. Lush hills in the distance. All very medieval. Never mind. That guy is wearing a \u2026 looks like a mixture of a magic staff and a laser gun. Let\u2019s go talk to him. \u2018Greetings, crumbs 2: even more crumbs<\/em>.\u2019 Amazing. \u2018Do you wish to start the tutorial?\u2018 No, thanks. Chat wants us to go over to that big tower in the distance. Alright. Might take a while. This area is vast. Very eerie if you think about how these hills must have been filled with players once. Now it\u2019s all abandoned. Chat keeps saying that the graphics are creepy, too. Agreed. The environment and the characters all look so \u2026 swollen. That low framerate is not helping, either. There\u2019s the tower. Someone left a signpost in front of it. \u2018Built by Hitomi_Fujiko_2<\/em> 01\/10\/2004\u2018. So it\u2019s a player creation. That must have taken ages! There are more buildings next to it. A market hall. A castle. This one seems to be one of those spaceships we talked about before. These giant bulb-things seem to be its wings. There\u2019s another signpost. \u2018Look for the outpost at X1Y61Z80 on The Boar\u2019s Moon if you want to find Lord Everett.\u2019. Someone in Chat just wrote that this is the developer\u2019s in-game alter ego. Seems like we\u2019ve got a very exciting stream ahead of us. Chat wants me to follow the trail. Guess I\u2019ll have to go, then. First I have to figure out how to use the spaceship, though. \u2018Select world\u2019. Where is it \u2026 there. \u2018The Boar\u2019s Moon\u2019. \u2018Confirm\u2019. Here we are. Seems to be an off-world outpost of our medieval society back home. We got palisades. Watchtowers. An inn. A few more player creations. We can probably get a better view if we climb up this parapet. Wow. Look at these giant tusks jutting out of the earth, Chat. They are almost touching the sky. Let\u2019s explore a bit and try to find those coordinates. The signpost talked of another outpost. So we have to look for structures similar to this one. Seems like we need to head east. I can see some mobs up ahead. There\u2019s one of them. It\u2019s the bigfin squid! Can\u2019t believe it. Looks even more terrifying in-game. The way it\u2019s just floating. And how that giant mantle is contracting and \u2026 Oh no. No, no, no. It\u2019s attacking. We are way too weak for this. Hopefully we can outrun it. Chat tells me to head for that valley ahead. Alright. There\u2019s the outpost! Now we just need to get rid of \u2026 It’s turning around. Almost looks like it\u2019s afraid of what\u2019s ahead. This outpost got more signs. This one is by some random player \u2026 this one too \u2026 \u2018Follow the trail through the Dale to get to Lord Everett.\u2019 We got our next clue! Don\u2019t know what dale he is talking about, though. According to the map, there\u2019s a Dale of Pilgrims<\/em> to the north. We have to head out this exit. I can\u2019t really see a trail ahead, though. \u2018try going up that slope to your right\u2019. Okay. There\u2019s more of these giant tusk-things along the path. Dale of Pilgrims<\/em>. Here we are. Lot of mist. Looks much more barren, too. And here we have \u2026 Wait a second. Someone in Chat wrote that they saw someone following me. Just now, when I turned the camera. You mean the squid-thing? \u2018no it looked like a player character\u2019 What? Server list says we\u2019re still the only ones. Maybe they\u2019ll come out if we stand still for a while here. Hm. Can\u2019t see anyone. I think that low-poly emptiness is just starting to make our minds imagine things. Let\u2019s continue. There\u2019s the next signpost. Nothing written on it. But we do have another one straight ahead. And another one behind. Can\u2019t see anything beyond because of the fog. I think we have to follow them. There\u2019s something big up ahead. Looks like a lake. Wow. And there\u2019s an island with a dark forest and some high cliffs. I can\u2019t see any signposts. Is this the right place? Someone just wrote in Chat: \u2018hey crumbs long-time player here. that original signpost is probably from a troll. when i logged in 3 months ago there were no sign or spaceship in that spot and the lord everett npc was patched out of the game years ago.\u2019 Let me check this. Okay. That guy\u2019s right. There is no Lord Everett NPC in the game anymore. What do you think, Chat? Should we still go on? \u2018even if it\u2019s a troll, there might still be something worthwhile waiting for us.\u2019 You\u2019re right, Vastarien<\/em>. Let\u2019s go to that island. I can see more of those squids in the water. They don\u2019t seem to notice me, though. There\u2019s some structures carved out of the cliff. They kind of look like tusks, too. Here we are. No clue where to go next, though. I don\u2019t see any signpost among the trees. They are all huddling so closely together. Let\u2019s walk a bit along the shore and \u2026 What the hell. Did you just see that, Chat? There\u2019s something in the trees. No. I\u2019m not shitting you. There. It\u2019s moving towards me. Is that an NPC? I\u2019m trying to make out their name. \u2018Lo \u2026 Lord E<\/em> \u2026 Lord Everett, Steward of the Fleshgate<\/em>.\u2019 We found him after all, Chat! That boar head and the robe look intimidating. Should we get closer? Wait. He wrote something in the game chat. \u2018Greetings, Pilgrim.\u2019 Let\u2019s play along. \u2018Greetings, Lord Everett.\u2018 \u2013 \u2018Have you come to enter the Gate?\u2019 Oh my god. Maybe this guy is some hacker who has found some exploit to access it. \u2018Yes!\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Are you ready to see it?\u2019 Chat says Yes. \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u2013 \u2018And the ones with you?\u2019 That\u2019s weird. \u2018Who are you talking about? I\u2019m the only one on the server.\u2019 \u2013 \u2018And the ones with you?\u2019. Chat urges me to go on. \u2018Yes\u2019. He\u2019s not replying anymore. Come on. Come on. \u2018Very well. Follow me.\u2019 Here we go! Can\u2019t believe we managed to \u2026 Oh. He just disappeared. Bummer. Would have been surprised if this was for real. Good job, though, Lord Everett<\/em>. You made us come all this way just to pull off your little prank. That\u2019s some dedication right there. Either way. I think we\u2019re going to do some more exploration after this little detour. That gloomy area deeper into this forest looks promising. I can\u2019t really see what\u2019s beyond those trees. First I\u2019m going to refill my bottle, though. Just a sec. I\u2019m back. Joe is still sleeping like a \u2013 Hm. Chat says the stream is acting weird. What do you mean? How long has this been going \u2026 Wait. Now I can see it, too. No clue what\u2019s happening. Let me check the settings real quick. Nothing. Did that Lord Everett impersonator do that? The effect keeps getting stronger, too. \u2026 What the hell. That should not … look like this. I \u2026 How can I turn this off. This is getting \u2026 this is getting out of hand. Chat asks me to describe it. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know! I\u2019m barely processing what I\u2019m even seeing. It\u2019s freaking me out, if I\u2019m being completely honest with you. It\u2019s hard to \u2026 it\u2019s hard to look at. It\u2019s \u2026 it\u2019s like the game world inside the screen \u2026 everything in it \u2026 the cypresses, the cliffs, the water, my character, the carved tusks \u2026 they are all gaining in \u2026 in mass \u2026 but it\u2019s not stopping, no, it\u2019s just swelling up, forever swelling up, and all this flesh is spilling out, over the edges of my screen, and now it\u2019s spreading to the things in my room as well \u2013 they are humming, Chat, the chair and the books and the lamp and the plate and the crumbs left on it and Joe \u2013 oh my god, Joe \u2013, they are all humming with solidity, amplified solidity, so much of it that I feel like my head is about to burst, but I can\u2019t turn away, because these colors and shapes don\u2019t allow anything else, there is no more idle room, only this writhing landscape of things pushing themselves against the membrane of my mind harder and harder until it\u2019s stretched taut and rips apart and there\u2019s no more absence only presence pure undiluted presence forever ensnaring Chat you can feel this too right you can feel this too how do we stop this this is too much this is too much this is too much make it stop just make it stop just make it stop make it stop [1:29:00]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Text by Maxime Weber) \u2018[crumbs] Diggin\u2019 It #17: Fleshgate\u2019 | 2,583,302 views | Uploaded five days ago | Private [00:00:00] Evening, Chat. Wait a second. Forgot my drink in the kitchen. Be right back. Welcome to the stream. Tonight, we got round 17 of \u2018Diggin\u2019 It\u2019 coming up. \u2018how are you doing crumbs?\u2019 I\u2019m doing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[45,44,46,43],"ppma_author":[22],"class_list":["post-592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","tag-internet","tag-stream","tag-video-games","tag-weird-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/MaximeWeber.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":22,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"maxime-weber","display_name":"Maxime Weber","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url2x":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g2x"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":"Maxime Weber was born in 1993 in Luxembourg-City and studied philosophy in Munich and Berlin. Apart from writing Weird Fiction and essays, he is also active in several music projects. In 2021, his debut novel \u201aDas Gangr\u00e4n\u2018 (\u201aThe Gangrene\u2018) was published by Kremart Edition."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1067,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions\/1067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anerwelten.lu\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}