I see. And did anything happen once people became novice?
Yeah, in their… infinite wisdom, they elected to make that one available only to a handful of users.
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Dude.
I didn’t give you that answer to be snobby; it really is a freaking long story to explain the whole Durtle Heaven saga and the best way to understand it is to read the relevant threads. I was being factual when I said there was no simple explanation. The most straightforward description I could give would be that WK wanted to engage us in testing a new product and tried a convoluted marketing scheme that involved a really strange puzzle game that they thought would easy for us to solve but instead turned out to be unexpectedly difficult; that in the course of solving the different layers of the puzzle the solving itself became a kind of game based on the informal and irreverent culture of the Campfire forums that WK inspires/encourages; that, in the end, because of an oddly hilarious error made in setting up the puzzle for one of the deeper levels, we solved it without realizing we had solved it and kept on arguing about it for several days past that point; and that finally, in despair that he’d ever get any coherent sense out of us again, @koichi Descended and became a burned Durtle; then things got weird; then WK gave up.on us because we were taking too long and made sure to point us in the right direction; and finally we all got invited to beta test an iOS app for WK. Which, since I’m an Android user, is where I dropped out.
See? No simple explanation possible.
We’re not actually snobs here, I’d like to think.
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Safarigirl,
when I said “snob” I was really just joking. I thought that was clear, but in case it wasn’t: I’m sorry. I don’t think anyone’s a snob here. Thank you for taking the time to write that long post and explain all this. I believed you when you wrote that there’s no simple explanation, but you could have attached a link to a thread where I could start reading (for example the diary kind of recap). I didn’t accuse you of withholding the truth, but it wasn’t exactly helping me out, either. So that’s what I was criticizing. And I know I gave a bit of a sulkily persona while doing so, but I wasn’t actually mad at anyone.
So please forgive me, if I came across a bit too strong.
But, now that you’re here, I’ve got one last question for you: You mentioned, just like Belthazar, that a beta version of the iOS actually got started, but I couldn’t find a thread where this was discussed. Was that communicated via physical mail as well? Are there screenshots?
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There was a separate locked forum for beta testers. It actually looked largely like the dashboard does right now, though the Durtle-pile images behind the Lessons and Reviews buttons were different. Unfortunately, testing revealed that there was some fundamental issue with how the app handled logins, or updated completed reviews to the server, or something like that, so they had to take it back to the drawing board for a bit of a rethink… and then Kristen (who may or may not have been one of the prime movers behind the app) left WaniKani for greener pastures, and we haven’t heard anything since…
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Sounds like the easy explanation is:
Tofugu decided to do an ARG to get into a beta for an official WK iOS app but it was unexpectedly hard and memes came out of it.
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The easier explanation is: eGoooott 
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I honestly don’t know what happened with that app because once I opted out of the project, I got no further updates on it. I don’t believe it was ever made into a thread though. The app stuff was all communicated via direct email.
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And if I knew what ARG stood for, perhaps I might have used it, but that sentence you wrote is only accurate in the sense that an acorn can be technically called an oak tree. So much more happened.
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Alternate Reality Game
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Its worth noting that while ARG stands for “alternate reality game,” the actual worrds that make it up are pointless (like “DOTA” or “MOBA”) since in actuality ARG is used for games that have you doing internet detective work (solving puzzles hidden in web data, images, etc), often as a group and often as a marketing tool for an upcoming product.
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When you’re out drinking and get a notification about your reviews
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Good
but rather painful one for a someone with ongoing substance abuse.
Oh, I’m sorry if you were offended :C
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omg lol and here I thought durtle heaven was just a made up meme by the community and that some random programmer made the website to continue the joke
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Nobody offended, I hope, just a little sad. The meme is a really good one.
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Or in my case studying grammar. sob
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Saving this for when I finally get there!
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But if I’m not mistaken, “ARG” can also stand for “Augmented Reality Game”, such as Pokémon GO or Minecraft Earth.
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Is this for real? I feel like I’m still dreaming right now.
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