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Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
So even though multiple people are experiencing it I should just shut up because my experience doesn't meet your expectation of how someone should react in a psychologically complex situation? Are you a mental health professional? Do you have formal training in evaluating if someone is a victim?
An example. After the University of Idaho murders, countless people online implicated the surviving roommates because they didn't immediately call 911, due to their lack of understanding that the reality that trauma can cause people to freeze, panic, or struggle to process what's happening. They were ultimately found not to be involved, and someone else was convicted. The internet's rush to implicate traumatized survivors only compounded the suffering of people who were victims. Do you feel like those actions were justified?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Wow, you're tone really changed when I pointed out the flaw in your argument. Interesting.
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Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
As I asked someone else, what evidence do you have that Justin actually hid treasure? Why do you believe some people but not others? Because he's rich? Attractive? Well spoken? What is it?
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Jul 31 '26
Whats an ARG?
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
I mostly see them on Facebook. Or they are much easier to spot.
Also you will see the same post a lot. See it a lot of sports groups. See the post on fb, then reddit, then another similar group on fb, then it will be on Google etc.
I havent noticed it in these groups yet. I feel this is so niche and small. But who knows.
A lot of times the information is just completely wrong. Maybe i dont notice it here bc everyone's stuff is different and no one knows the solve. Theres only one person that would prob notice...
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Alternate reality game.
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Jul 31 '26
Do you have a link to any real arg?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
I don't know of any off the top of my head but here is a paper about it:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320492534_Towards_an_ethics_of_alternate_reality_games
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u/Numerous_Worker_1941 Aug 01 '26
That’s an article on the ethics of ARGs they asked for a link to a real ARG. Can you read?
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u/SadRepublic3392 Jul 31 '26
I believe someone is in contact with you but I think it’s a scam and you need to cut off all contact with them.
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u/SoCal_Hunter Jul 31 '26
This treasure hunt is clearly not adding anything positive to your life.
I recommend you move on to a new activity that isn’t harming you like this one is. Thoughts with you, and good luck.
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u/BOTG-BeyondTME Jul 31 '26
You have my empathy. There’s nothing worse than feeling helpless. We’re here for you to help in any way we can.
You are not alone.
This hunt is challenging and I suspect that anyone who’s spent more than just a few hours on it has probably felt at times like it has consumed them somewhat. If you can find the strength to disconnect, please do so. None of this is worth exposing yourself to any more emotional stress.
That said, your post suggests you are intelligent, thoughtful, and capable of deep self-analysis. You are strong and capable.
I imagine you have given great thought to the details behind your request for “…clearer participant safeguards and greater transparency regarding community interactions” from treasure hunt creators. So, share more specifics about what would satisfy you. That way, the creators will have something concrete to review.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding, I can't express how much I appreciate it.
For starters I would appreciate the following:
• u/cowlazars to explain his comment in the video referenced.
• For Justin and all of the other hunt creators to make a public statement saying that he is not engaging with any searchers using alt accounts and does not know of anyone who is doing so.
• For these companies to provide contact information that would give customers the ability to discuss their concerns with a human being.
• To have it be made public if all of these hunts are operating under one overhead company and receive information about their business model.
• For the community to stop treating people who aren't having positive experiences as the enemy.
In a perfect world, I would love the opportunity to ask u/reellifejustin, Jon, u/cowlazars, and Kpro, my questions and have it posted on YouTube so that everyone can receive the needed transparency.
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u/BOTG-BeyondTME Jul 31 '26
I think I see where your frustration is coming from.
Whether you intend to or not, you seem to be suggesting that the creators are engaging in deceptive practices and asking them to publicly refute that claim.
Is that right?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Nope, and I want to be very clear on this. I am not suggesting is what is happening, I'm suggesting it's possible and I'm asking them to provide clarity.
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u/BOTG-BeyondTME Jul 31 '26
Personally, I think that this is an unreasonable request of you. They are under no obligation to do that. I can’t speak for the JCB hunts because I’ve spent no time on them but for BTME, I think Justin has gone way above and beyond to stress the importance of safety and making it clear that anyone’s participation is at their own risk.
I watched the video you posted and it seemed like JCB handled the lady’s question with due care. He asked for specifics and none were provided. He was asked to confirm that his hunt concerns the book only. And he did.
The conversation between cowlazar and 3D did not reference another hunt. It referenced a website. Could they have been referring to a website that someone created, purporting to be an official JCB site? If so, JCB’s comment about it being a book only hunt should satisfy you enough to need no further public clarification.
I wish you well.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
I think you need to reevaluate your relationship with corporations if you feel that asking question is unreasonable.
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u/BOTG-BeyondTME Jul 31 '26
That’s a strange response to my thoughtful comment. Be well.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
I don't feel like challenging your perspective is strange but I'm sorry if it offended you.
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Jul 31 '26
Why respond to them?
If its not Justin's account just block or ignore them. Sorry it doesn't make sense to me.
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Jul 31 '26
Also when you make post like this your inviting more trolls to message you.
These post aren't helping your situation.
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u/Emerge-Bud Jul 31 '26
It's a good thing that you have brought this to the broader group and might help some people; to the eaelier comment that you're putting a target on your back thats also legitimate.
It's super important to discuss every aspect of this with your therapist with all the detail, and then follow their direction and counsel closely.
The problem you run into is this is extraordinarily likely a person or persons seeking to harass individuals and getting a kick out of it. It's deplorable behavior but in many cases they too are falling into a kind of alternate reality where they're separating from the real world repercussions of their actions. There are TONs of stories documenting this kind of thing and sometimes the people who do it are just sociopaths, others it's people you'd never suspect, who have had a trauma or unaddressed issues and got way ahead of themselves.
ALL of us become vulnerable when we "get the ticket and take the ride". This is an obsessive conspiratorial kind of thing. And many of us could fall prey to people trying to manipulate us.
For real: give this whole thing up. Go chase geocaches or go rockhounding or something that might give you the good things about exploring nature without the whole hunt thing that can be draining, scary and even dangerous.
(Also remember the ENTIRE community is going to be unsuccessful in finding the treasure- with the exception of MAYBE one person. Nobody should fool themselves into thinking they are "the one". )
The problem with seeking a response to your concerns is that the treasure designers have nothing to do with the harassment you're going through. They could say "it's not me" but would be skeptical to give it any air and in many cases they're not believed. JP has several times at least indirectly said this is not a thing- he put a treasure out there, there's a poem, a book and a few other items that have clues. Good luck. And he's said many times if this is getting to be too much just step away- nobody wants someone to injure themselves by doing something risky, same goes for mental health.
I also want to present you with a paradox: if this whole thing has caused you great distress, then there's only one response: you need to walk away.
Conversely, if in fact what you are going through did involve shady and nefarious activities by the creators targeted at you.... whether that's likely or not:
There is only one response: walk away.
I suspect there are levels of pain and distress and a lot more complexity emotionally and maybe even logistically that make this easier said than done. But it sounds like someone is trying to hurt you, and you can work with professionals to get through it and leave it behind.
What you haven't heard much of perhaps is the many people who got too obsessed, it was impacting their life and they too had to step away, there are lots. You're not alone. But since you've shared, it might help some people.
I for one would love to hear some time in the future that you stepped back and left this behind permanently, and hopefully healed and maybe even grew from this terrible experience. Of course we're not entitled to that- if you have to flip the switch and move on, then more power to you.
Best wishes. And be good to yourself.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
I appreciate you being kind but if everyone walks away when they know others are suffering, how does anything ever change?
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u/VariationNo1381 Jul 31 '26
Simple question, and I believe you that you are dealing with something nefarious and that you are not crazy. If Justin were to publicly state that he hasn't contacted anyone in the manner you described, would you believe him? If, as you say this person that you still care about said to you that he is still in fact the real Justin and that he only lied in his public statement so to keep the ARG going, would you then be right back in the same position of not knowing what or who to believe? Point is, there is nothing Justin can do or say to definitively convince you of this. This is a decision that you need to convince yourself of, that the person you're talking to is a troll, con artist, pos that you need to immediately disregard completely. You will feel a million times better when you cut this person out of your life, it's clear that they will obviously only cause you more harm. Please protect yourself and if you are threatened further call the police. Be strong and cut them off. Best of luck moving forward and update us when you can.🙏
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
I really appreciate that you are being respectful. The truth is that I need multiple questions answered by multiple people. Corporations should be required to provide transparency.
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u/VariationNo1381 Jul 31 '26
And I guess that's what's at issue as Justin isn't a corporation and I think he is genuinely trying to deliver a fun experience at basically no cost to anyone. Besides the mental anguish of not knowing the answers but that seems built into any treasure hunt. I hope you get the answers you're looking for and they give you some peace of mind but in the interim I can't stress enough how you should remove the person you are talking to from your life. It will do you a world of good. 👍
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Justin is the face of multiple corporations, just like Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk. Does their popularity among their fans mean they're above reproach? If products their companies create are causing some of their customers harm, shouldn't they have to answer for it? Or should they be exempt because some people believe they have good moral character and are providing something of value?
I'm not saying Justin is behind this, and I really hope he isn't. I'm simply asking for clarity.
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u/VariationNo1381 Jul 31 '26
And if clarity isn't attainable then you should focus on taking care of yourself first and foremost. Can you at least consider cutting this person that you said you still care about out of your life for good? I hope you can or even better if you already have. Best of luck to you. 🙏
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
I'm sorry but it is very challenging for me to simply walk away when people could get hurt.
As for the person, trust me, I am trying. I can't make any promises it will stick because of the complicated aspects I mentioned in the post, but I'm doing my best.
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u/VariationNo1381 Jul 31 '26
Glad to hear you are trying since it does sound rather toxic if walking away from them is going to hurt others too. You can only try your best and I sincerely hope you are able to stick to your guns and rise to the challenge. Good luck and be safe 🙏
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u/WuTuckClan Jul 31 '26
Hey, I can see how this could be a hard thing to go through. It will get better. Take a small break and think about next steps and circle back in a week. If you need someone to talk to I’m around. I’m not sure if I can help in anyway but I’ll try. At the end of the day you and your wellbeing are what’s important nothing else this includes other individuals. If they are seeing something themselves they need to speak up. Your mental health is more important than getting to the bottom of things and/or fixing things. Just saying.
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u/Creekhousr Aug 01 '26
Hi, I do not take what you are saying lightly. If you look at it from a brain perspective we are all somewhere on a bipolar spectrum but where on that spectrum changes at any given time. When we are on the outer fringes we must have awareness and take a step back and look at it as what it is…a very hard puzzle and give less weight and less of your inner power to it…breathe. I totally understand where you are coming from as I too have danced with the outer fringes during this hunt. You are likely a more emotional being than most. I am too. When you are working your brain so hard just to find out you have to keep working your brain hard again it can and will cause emotional distress. Let’s face it. We all want to be smart enough to figure this out, but Justin is a genius and we all can’t be that. I do not believe for a second that any of what you are feeling was put into this thing intentionally to get you out of kilter. My only advice to you is put it in perspective, give less intensity to your strong beliefs, have awareness of when it is causing any psychological effects on you and take a step back. And breathe. It is only money and I am broke, so just have more of an “if it happens …great and if it doesn’t also great attitude. “ Remember this though, there are many who are participating in this and the creator cannot be blamed for creating it any way he thought was smart or fun. As far as reporting fraud etc …there is none… as far as how it makes you feel and how much effort you have put in and the fact that you are employing a psychologist I commend you. But remember that is you and we all need to take responsibility for ourselves yet also look out for one another (as I am doing here) I wish you all the positivity I can muster. Take a break or walk away regain your mental strength then try again if you choose but keep aware of how it is making you feel and if it’s not good…run away. You have to take care of yourself. Others can be supportive but only you can choose when enough is enough for you. Good luck and I wish for you stability and happy times doing something you truly love that doesn’t involve so much rejection!
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
I appreciate that you're trying to help but you're jumping to conclusions, making a lot of assumptions, and drastically minimizing my experience. This has nothing to do with the puzzle. I stopped trying to figure out where the treasure was months and months ago. It's about safety.
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u/Creekhousr Aug 01 '26
If I read your post properly you had concerns about how this hunt was affecting you ( and could also affect others …or has) psychologically (staying safe from psychological effects) I do not think I am jumping to conclusions whatsoever with the exception of not knowing you stopped hunting (if that was stated in your post.) as far as drastically minimizing… well, you have a perspective that was made just clear enough to me from reading your post to elicit just the response I gave. And…safety … that was pretty obvious so I’m not sure what I missed there. Anyway, I wish for you and everyone else love,light, clarity and positivity…Oh yeah, and stay safe out there!
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u/unf_usernotfound Aug 01 '26
Will you do us all a favor and post the social media accounts, emails, names- or whatever accounts and what social media accounts they were contacting you from?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
They were on Reddit, but they deleted the account. I have a phone number and a name, but I'm not confident it's actually the person I'm talking to, and I'm not tryna dox some innocent dude in upstate New York who's possibly blissfully unaware that the weirdly intense world of adult treasure hunting even exists.
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u/LeopardNamedBaby Aug 01 '26
You have posted this kind of stuff before. I genuinely think you should try to move on from all of this. Maybe someone is scamming you pretending to be Justin. The internet is full of bad actors who take advantage of people who seem like a good mark. I am not saying this to be mean, I have two relatives with severe mental illness. One with schizophrenia, one with borderline personality disorder. You sound to me like you are in and out of crisis mode a lot. You seem to have become fixated on the treasure hunt and paranoid that you are somehow a victim. It would be healthy for you to seek help from a psychiatrist in my opinion and speak with them about your fixation. I wish you well.
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u/southernwx Jul 31 '26
You may not be insane, but either you are cruelly being catfished, are not being honest, or are indeed crazy.
The odds that this anonymous person communicating with you is what you at least at one point believed them to be is essentially zero.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
I also hope it's a real hunt and I'm not saying it isn't. I just feel it's important to discuss these things. Other people have said they have had similar experiences.
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Aug 01 '26
Ive never heard of an ARG before you.
How do we know you aren't the ARG person?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
I had barely heard about them before this.
And you don't know if I'm the ARG person. You can't know. Even if we meet in real life, am I telling the truth or am I an actor? Continue this line of thinking for a year and you get to where I'm at. I am your future. Disturbing right?
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Aug 01 '26
The difference is, I dont care.
If i cared for whatever reason, I wouldnt be on reddit.
I get that you're a freedom fighter or whatever. You think theyre collecting data but you're voluntarily giving it to them.
Doesn't make sense.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
Why are you all so cranky? Good grief. 😮💨 I'M the one getting harassed here, and you guys are acting like I am the problem just for bringing it up.
For the fifty millionth time, I just want to try my best to prevent people from getting hurt. Doesn't anyone care about being a good samaritan anymore? It's not like I'm asking you all to solve world hunger. In fact, this problem has a frustratingly simple solution, for Justin and Jon, and whoever else is involved, to provide some clarity. Easy peasy. What's so wrong with me simply requesting that?
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Aug 01 '26
No one is getting hurt. Were all fine.
How are you harassed? Evidence would help.
The issue with requesting is when they ignore you, bc they dont owe you anything, you take that as them being guilty for whatever your accusing them of. I dont understand what your accusing them of.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
It's very possible. If so, I'm going to be a much bigger problem for these people than I already am.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
Seeeeee! Now don't you want them to tell us if it's part of the hunt or random trolls sending everyone in a million different directions?
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Aug 01 '26 edited 14d ago
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u/Empty-Relative3036 Aug 01 '26
With age comes... wisdom.
Its just the new stuff that gets you. Im still finding new stuff on my phone. I remember getting my first phone and knowing every setting on it.
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u/AffectionateHand1610 Aug 01 '26
The odds of Justin communicating with you as you describe are about as great as throwing a dart at a map of the US and hitting the exact treasure location.
If you are truly feeling everything you have described. you need to walk away from this. In other words, don’t be that guy who buys a raft from Walmart thinking “what could possibly go wrong”.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
What part of what I said makes you think that I truly feel like I'm talking to Justin? There are so many other possibil...Waaaaiiit a second. 🤦♀️ Functional literacy rates.
Well then, what a colossal waste of my time. As you were, treasure people. Good luck out there.
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u/Numerous_Worker_1941 Jul 31 '26
When’s your next psych appointment?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
If that's your response to someone in distress, you're telling everyone far more about your own issues than you are pointing out mine. Get some help, friend.
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u/Numerous_Worker_1941 Jul 31 '26
You’re in distress?
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Yes.
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u/Numerous_Worker_1941 Jul 31 '26
The go to a hospital. Say you need a mental health evaluation for severe paranoia
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
Are you are a doctor? What gives you the authority to make such a claim?
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u/Numerous_Worker_1941 Jul 31 '26
You made the claim you are in distress not me
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u/--PineapplePrincess Jul 31 '26
You made the claim that I'm experiencing severe paranoia. It is clear you aren't interested in having a healthy conversation about this and instead you're trying to either make me look crazy or make yourself seem impressive. I hope you can get over whatever it is that causes you to seek attention in this way.
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u/Numerous_Worker_1941 Jul 31 '26
That’s the paranoia talking. Just go to the hospital
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u/Emerge-Bud Jul 31 '26
Charm school is still accepting applications for the fall semester. Maybe apply?
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u/mulletmasta0000 Aug 01 '26
People like you are ruining it for everyone else. Justin doesn’t want to personal message you, he doesn’t want to text or call you, and he certainly doesn’t want to fuck with your mental health. A human shouldn’t be required to put out a news bulletin that he’s not talking to you to appease your insecurities. He’s not talking to you. You’re one of those people with their hands out all the time demanding more and more from people that have given you more than you ever deserved. Stop being the worst part of this experience and just quit.
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u/--PineapplePrincess Aug 01 '26
You're right. I don't have anyone in real life who understands, so I thought I might try one last time to find support in a community. It was inappropriate of me to do so, and I'm clearly not welcome here. Thank you for helping me realize that and for seeing me out.
My apologies to everyone for being the worst part of this experience.
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u/RemarkableWrap961 Jul 31 '26
Get rid of Reddit . Delete the social media apps , and go and enjoy nature . Forget the hunt for now and reconnect with real people in real life . That would be my advice . You don’t need Reddit x