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Original article
Clandestine philanthropist contacts Torn City Times to explain absence. Reveals motives for original charity spree. Kata identified as known associate.
Since launching our Tell Your Story feature earlier this month, the Torn City Times has received a veritable torrent of nonsense, filth and lies sent to our inbox - which is just what we wanted. However, last week one story stood out amongst all others: a Torn citizen contacted us claiming to be the elusive $1million lurker.
"I lived a double life. By day I was an unassuming low-level faction member living in the gym, but by night I donned a mask and assumed the identity of the 1m lurker of global chat."
For those of you who do not know, the $1million lurker is an anonymous philanthropist who donates money to random strangers encountered through Global Chat. Their activities have dwindled of late, but intrigue still surrounds the lurker's identity and motives. I now know who this person is thanks to their message, as do my fellow reporters at the Torn City Times. We will not be releasing this information at the request of the lurker, and any reporters who break this agreement will be fired; both from the newspaper and a small cannon into the sea.
Pictured: A suitable image I recently Googled
What we can tell you is why this charitable individual does what he or she does: social awkwardness."I'm rather reluctant by nature to jump into the deep end of internet chatting openly, so I came up with the idea of lurking global chat and contributing to the conversation by sending anonymous 1 million dollars with messages responding to the discussion currently going on in the chat. This ingenious plan allowed me to anonymously join in with discussions while also arousing intrigue and amusement in the recipients of my messages."
Global chat is a difficult place to visit at the best of times, but those who are hesitant find it even tougher. The lurker told me that they often spend a long time formulating responses to chat topics, only to find the conversation has moved on by the time they're ready to post. These impromptu cash donations provided a way of taking part in conversations without this hurdle, and over several months the $1million lurker estimates having given away $400-500million, becoming well known amongst Globalites in the process.
So well known, that they even inspired their own tribute acts.
"After a few months, the 1m lurker began to take on a persona all it's own. It decided that it wanted to seek the status of legendary myth rather than be tied down to my silly mortal whimsy...rumors began appearing that the 1m lurker was some kind of anti-Duke NPC, which I thought was hilarious. But then copy-cats started appearing, claiming to be the 1m lurker and sending spam-like messages with poor grammar demanding that their donations be publicly recognized in global or the forums."
These mimics irritated the lurker, so she decided to form her own manifesto and share it with Torn City News reporter Kata. Kata and the lurker were old friends, and as such, she felt comfortable revealing her identity to her some weeks prior. You'll notice my use of the pronoun 'she' there, for yes indeed, our $1million lurker is actually a lady. Or as I like to call them, penis-deficient opposite-guys.
"She's [Kata] helped me in a lot of my Torn endeavors, especially when I used to be too shy to start them up on my own. I've always admired her courage for doing the TCN and being open about her real-life gender and appearance, as that can be a seriously dangerous thing for a girl to do on the internet. She inspired me, after 800 days of playing as 'male', to openly come out to my Torn friends as a real-life female."
With Kata on board, the pair began to encourage rumours regarding the true identity of the lurker. Kata spread misinformation via her TCN broadcasts in a bid to throw people off the scent and have a little fun, but any amusement soon fell away as the copycats started to tarnish the good name of the lurker, as Kata explains:
"I don't think this would have been an issue if the people doing it had followed similar guidelines, but if I remember correctly, they didn't necessarily share the same ideals. This bothered the actual lurker and they didn't want to be confused with these imposters. A manifesto was written explaining what the goals were for the lurker and who they were - and I read it on Torn City News."
This move paid off. The lurker's manifesto was received well by the community, outlining the inherent good behind her altruistic acts. She was not giving away money for fame, attention or personal gain; she was doing it because she wanted to take part in conversations and make Torn a better place. The copycats seemed to die down in the wake of the manifesto's release; however, unbeknownst to the lurker, there was another problem on the horizon - a Torn update which prevented the sending of anonymous cash.
"One day I suddenly found myself unable to send money anonymously and my identity and what had become my life's purpose came crashing down around me. But rather than wallow in self-pity, I began earnestly working on my computer science bachelor's so that one day, or in about 2-3 months, I can retake my post as the 1m lurker."
That explains why the $1million lurker has been absent of late, and why she has chosen to publicise her case via the Torn City Times. The lurker is counting the days until she will finish the computer science course, with approximately 44 days remaining according to her calculations.
"The one thing I loved about being the 1m lurker was that I could defuse arguments very easily and make global at least a little bit more positive and happy than it usually is. My day to day life is quite depressing so cheering people up anonymously and seeing the effect it has on the typical environment in global is quite fulfilling. I chose to tell the newspaper because I want the city to know that their lurker never abandoned them and always intended to return, and that return is imminent. You just have to believe."
Players like this are a rarity in Torn, and the TCT wishes to thank the lurker for her attempts to inject some positivity into what can sometimes be a poisonous place. We look forward to the lurker completing her course on schedule, and should she resume her charitable efforts we will do our utmost to ensure that you, the dedicated readers of the Torn City Times hear about it first. But in the meantime, let us join in and spread a few more rumours about this mysterious woman, with some help from the lurker's personal publicist, Kata.
"I heard the lurker once saved a puppy from a burning building, while giving a crying baby back its stolen candy, helping inner-city children with their homework, AND serving food to the poor."
"And that was all before breakfast. You should see what they can do after they've had their Wheaties.
"I lived a double life. By day I was an unassuming low-level faction member living in the gym, but by night I donned a mask and assumed the identity of the 1m lurker of global chat."
For those of you who do not know, the $1million lurker is an anonymous philanthropist who donates money to random strangers encountered through Global Chat. Their activities have dwindled of late, but intrigue still surrounds the lurker's identity and motives. I now know who this person is thanks to their message, as do my fellow reporters at the Torn City Times. We will not be releasing this information at the request of the lurker, and any reporters who break this agreement will be fired; both from the newspaper and a small cannon into the sea.
Pictured: A suitable image I recently Googled
What we can tell you is why this charitable individual does what he or she does: social awkwardness."I'm rather reluctant by nature to jump into the deep end of internet chatting openly, so I came up with the idea of lurking global chat and contributing to the conversation by sending anonymous 1 million dollars with messages responding to the discussion currently going on in the chat. This ingenious plan allowed me to anonymously join in with discussions while also arousing intrigue and amusement in the recipients of my messages."
Global chat is a difficult place to visit at the best of times, but those who are hesitant find it even tougher. The lurker told me that they often spend a long time formulating responses to chat topics, only to find the conversation has moved on by the time they're ready to post. These impromptu cash donations provided a way of taking part in conversations without this hurdle, and over several months the $1million lurker estimates having given away $400-500million, becoming well known amongst Globalites in the process.
So well known, that they even inspired their own tribute acts.
"After a few months, the 1m lurker began to take on a persona all it's own. It decided that it wanted to seek the status of legendary myth rather than be tied down to my silly mortal whimsy...rumors began appearing that the 1m lurker was some kind of anti-Duke NPC, which I thought was hilarious. But then copy-cats started appearing, claiming to be the 1m lurker and sending spam-like messages with poor grammar demanding that their donations be publicly recognized in global or the forums."
These mimics irritated the lurker, so she decided to form her own manifesto and share it with Torn City News reporter Kata. Kata and the lurker were old friends, and as such, she felt comfortable revealing her identity to her some weeks prior. You'll notice my use of the pronoun 'she' there, for yes indeed, our $1million lurker is actually a lady. Or as I like to call them, penis-deficient opposite-guys.
"She's [Kata] helped me in a lot of my Torn endeavors, especially when I used to be too shy to start them up on my own. I've always admired her courage for doing the TCN and being open about her real-life gender and appearance, as that can be a seriously dangerous thing for a girl to do on the internet. She inspired me, after 800 days of playing as 'male', to openly come out to my Torn friends as a real-life female."
With Kata on board, the pair began to encourage rumours regarding the true identity of the lurker. Kata spread misinformation via her TCN broadcasts in a bid to throw people off the scent and have a little fun, but any amusement soon fell away as the copycats started to tarnish the good name of the lurker, as Kata explains:
"I don't think this would have been an issue if the people doing it had followed similar guidelines, but if I remember correctly, they didn't necessarily share the same ideals. This bothered the actual lurker and they didn't want to be confused with these imposters. A manifesto was written explaining what the goals were for the lurker and who they were - and I read it on Torn City News."
This move paid off. The lurker's manifesto was received well by the community, outlining the inherent good behind her altruistic acts. She was not giving away money for fame, attention or personal gain; she was doing it because she wanted to take part in conversations and make Torn a better place. The copycats seemed to die down in the wake of the manifesto's release; however, unbeknownst to the lurker, there was another problem on the horizon - a Torn update which prevented the sending of anonymous cash.
"One day I suddenly found myself unable to send money anonymously and my identity and what had become my life's purpose came crashing down around me. But rather than wallow in self-pity, I began earnestly working on my computer science bachelor's so that one day, or in about 2-3 months, I can retake my post as the 1m lurker."
That explains why the $1million lurker has been absent of late, and why she has chosen to publicise her case via the Torn City Times. The lurker is counting the days until she will finish the computer science course, with approximately 44 days remaining according to her calculations.
"The one thing I loved about being the 1m lurker was that I could defuse arguments very easily and make global at least a little bit more positive and happy than it usually is. My day to day life is quite depressing so cheering people up anonymously and seeing the effect it has on the typical environment in global is quite fulfilling. I chose to tell the newspaper because I want the city to know that their lurker never abandoned them and always intended to return, and that return is imminent. You just have to believe."
Players like this are a rarity in Torn, and the TCT wishes to thank the lurker for her attempts to inject some positivity into what can sometimes be a poisonous place. We look forward to the lurker completing her course on schedule, and should she resume her charitable efforts we will do our utmost to ensure that you, the dedicated readers of the Torn City Times hear about it first. But in the meantime, let us join in and spread a few more rumours about this mysterious woman, with some help from the lurker's personal publicist, Kata.
"I heard the lurker once saved a puppy from a burning building, while giving a crying baby back its stolen candy, helping inner-city children with their homework, AND serving food to the poor."
"And that was all before breakfast. You should see what they can do after they've had their Wheaties.
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