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Windrunner

Sly
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,500
Content warning: misogyny, emotional abuse



Many who played WoW circa 2008 will remember this viral video (re-upload):



Well apparently he never went away. I will edit this OP with more information once I have finished watching the whole video.
 

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,176
UK
Didn't know this was what Chris Bratt was doing since leaving Eurogamer. Will give this a watch. Athene feels so long ago.
 
Oct 27, 2017
6,960
When Destiny "discussed" with Atheme, the dude was living in another reality where only he was smart enough to understand the science of everything: quantum, neurons, Einstein, buzzwords!

The guy is either seriously think that he is a Jesus of science, or just cashing in from his followers.
 

Deleted member 23046

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,876
Don't let false prophets misguide you, we are all pilgrims of the Eravangelism, who migrated from the Old Place after the Schism.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
7,663
When Destiny "discussed" with Atheme, the dude was living in another reality where only he was smart enough to understand the science of everything: quantum, neurons, Einstein, buzzwords!

The guy is either seriously think that he is a Jesus of science, or just cashing in from his followers.

yeah, the Destiny discussion made him seem like he's losing his mind a bit. (If he hadn't already long ago)
 

Zombine

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,231
If it talks like a cult, walks like a cult, and acts like a cult...it's a cult.
 

TissueBox

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,013
Urinated States of America
Does anybody remember Wrath of the L33t King?

Honestly I thought it was a riot. Too bad he's taken it down from most if not all platforms. Though some clips still infamously exist.

ANYWHO... will try to watch the video mayhaps, thx..!!
 

LuckyLinus

Member
Jun 1, 2018
1,936
Edit: Sorry for the ignorant post, I didnt see the video before commenting, I absolutely do not support any of this.

Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.
 
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Chackan

Member
Oct 31, 2017
5,097
Didn't this guy always make his girlfriend (at the time at least) appear on his videos in lingerie and stuff?

Edit: I honestly wouldn't remember the dude at all if it wasn't for that lol
 

Doc Kelso

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,157
NYC
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.
Well that's fucking creepy. You can't chalk up an abusive environment with a guy that spews alt-right beliefs are running a "social experiment" or trolling. The dude is fucked up.

This whole thing is the definition of a cult.
 

antitrop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,595
I know him from StarCraft 2, where early on he paid a top NA Protoss player (Kiwikaki) to get an account named AtheneWins to first place on the ladder.

That was harmless fun, but everything that happened after is just crazy.
 

Jay_AD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,910
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.
This kind of thing preys on vulnerable people and causes real actual harm to real, actual people. Fuck that, and fuck this guy.

Edit: Bratterz is amazing of course. More people should watch his stuff.
 
OP
OP
Windrunner

Windrunner

Sly
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,500
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.

He's welcome to do said trolling on his own time, dragging in a bunch of impressionable teenagers and people in their early 20's with bullshit crypto-currencies, weird pseudo science philosophies or to live in a compound with him is reprehensible.

I think the overt misogyny is the real him too.
 

Bigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,634
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.
This kind of seems a little too sympathetic to a guy who is very clearly exploiting vulnerable people for his own gain

I don't really give a shit if saying "if you have depression it's actually your fault and you deserve it" is just a social experiment or trolling, it's an incredibly vile thing to say and he's legitimately influencing people with this incredibly harmful rhetoric
 

XR.

Member
Nov 22, 2018
6,582
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.
Hey guys it's just a social experiment
 

Deleted member 203

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,899
I'm only 35 minutes in and this guy already seems like an unhinged, awful, disgusting person.
 

underFlorence

Member
May 19, 2019
1,628
Germany
Jeez, I couldn't watch that interview with how shitty that guy was being to Chris. I'm so glad they got this finished and got the word out.
 

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
56,954
Watching this now, but one thing I want to comment on is the consistent idea he pushes that people are responsible for the ills around them.

I actually agree to an extent. If all people got of their arses and demanded change, voted, protested, change would happen.

He's not just saying this though, he's bullying people into a mindset by telling them there are worthless if they don't. Most people will ignore him if they heard him, and it's the vulnerable people who will listen and who would be taken in by this to the point they could be manipulated and used.

I need to watch the rest but already it's clear how this is going to be hokiing vuldberable people. Especially with the promise of food and shelter.
 

JahIthBer

Member
Jan 27, 2018
10,382
God damn, i remember when Athene started having adult actresses in his videos years ago, which was interesting to say the least since he was mainly known for WoW & around that time Diablo 3, but wasn't aware about the streaming & reading messages from the audience, yeah that's not gonna go down well.
 

BigHatPaul

Member
May 28, 2019
1,670
I used to think Athene was so damn funny back in the day. Crazy to see him even brought up these days.
 

Cyanity

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,345
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.

You clearly didn't watch the video my dude
 

underFlorence

Member
May 19, 2019
1,628
Germany
Watching this now, but one thing I want to comment on is the consistent idea he pushes that people are responsible for the ills around them.

I actually agree to an extent. If all people got of their arses and demanded change, voted, protested, change would happen.

He's not just saying this though, he's bullying people into a mindset by telling them there are worthless if they don't. Most people will ignore him if they heard him, and it's the vulnerable people who will listen and who would be taken in by this to the point they could be manipulated and used.
Agreed, there's like a semblance of a decent idea in there but he just takes it way too far. Especially since he isn't directing said rage at millionaires who actually have a big influence but other vulnerable people.
 

Hero_of_the_Day

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
17,344
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.

Dude. What the fuck is this post!?

This fucker is out there "trying new ways to make a living" by telling people he can get them over their mental issues, while spouting bullshit about all women being naturally manipulative. You hand waving that shit away because he was a chill dude to play WoW with is fucking ridiculous.
 

Bigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,634
Really?

Free room, free food, promise of personal issues evaporating and some kind of logic nirvana where you will be stronger, more attractive, and will help save the world?

To many vulnerable people, this will sound incredible.
Yeah, honestly I can't blame someone for falling for his pitch, especially for someone who is severely depressed. He makes it sound like a paradise, and while obviously its clear to many people in this thread that it has to be too good to be true, when you're at the end of your rope it can be very difficult to see the red flags.

Which is why Athene pulling this grift is so vile. He knows exactly what he's doing. He knows how vulnerable someone who is lonely, depressed and down on their luck can be and is exploiting them with promises of free room and board and all of the women they could ever want. And that is truly disgusting. All of the charity work in the world doesn't take away from that.
 

Deleted member 9317

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,451
New York
Athene was everyone's "old buddy" until he went off rails. I'm sure a lot of us called him buddy and respected his WoW Paladin days.

Maybe his friends need to wake his ass up.
 

Majiebeast

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,090
I feel like he really went off the rails when Kripparian beat him to world first HC Diablo kill in Diablo 3
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,165
I remember going into this guy's stream on twitch a few years ago when he was a streaming Hearthstone. They had a spinning wheel and were begging for donations with a tiny pip of Hearthstone being played by some random guy. I wrote him off as a fallen star just trying to cash in on their once good name. Had no idea the dude was running a cult as well. Crazy the paths some people go down. Maybe fame just twists some people's heads.
 
Oct 28, 2017
1,865
Oh wow, the last time I heard about Athene was when he was running a crypto ponzi scheme on twitch a year ago or so. What happened to his youtube channel? It looks like he nuked everything except for the weird cult stuff from two years ago.

The thing that confuses me is how he actually supports his shenanigans. His youtube is dead and he barely gets any views on twitch these days.
 

Komo

Info Analyst
Verified
Jan 3, 2019
7,110
Hey thats my old buddy Athene, we used to play WoW together. He was a really good guy from my experiences with him. I take most of what hes doing as social experiments/trolling.

In the end of the day I think hes just trying out new ways to make a living through the internet when he cant capitalize on his old stuff anymore.
Which is exactly what he's doing it's more of a community house where everyone is free to do what they want. It's less having to believe what he teaches.

Honestly not sure why everyone calls it a cult lmao. His project before this was a huge meme (cryptocurrency)
 

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
Athene's responses during the "interview" are so absolutely baffling, I guess one way to convince your audience you won a debate is to waffle on for 15 minutes. Impressed with how chill Chris was during the whole process.

Really sad that people who got out fell back in, though, especially that one volunteer's brother who noticed all the signs but still fell for it because it's hard to become a developer where he lived.
 
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Jay_AD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,910
Which is exactly what he's doing it's more of a community house where everyone is free to do what they want. It's less having to believe what he teaches.

Honestly not sure why everyone calls it a cult lmao. His project before this was a huge meme (cryptocurrency)

The "it's just jokes/memes/trolling" thing as cover for bad actors is super thin and kind of gross.
 

Siyou

Member
Oct 27, 2017
864
Which is exactly what he's doing it's more of a community house where everyone is free to do what they want. It's less having to believe what he teaches.

Honestly not sure why everyone calls it a cult lmao. His project before this was a huge meme (cryptocurrency)
After watching this video and being around people who have had similar views, I found this less meme, more cult. I also believe this guy is out to do more damage than good.

The last few minutes of the interview were chilling when he discarded his persona and he makes eye contact with the camera and you see his eyes just flaring when he pretty much announces that he's in control of everything and there's money to be made, and only he can make that money. If this is meme and not cult, then sign me off from memes, because this looked and felt pretty real and heavy for a meme.
 

Bigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,634
Which is exactly what he's doing it's more of a community house where everyone is free to do what they want. It's less having to believe what he teaches.

Honestly not sure why everyone calls it a cult lmao. His project before this was a huge meme (cryptocurrency)
Did you watch the video? The "clicking" stuff is extremely cultish and sounds very similar to the scientology concept of "going clear." And he is telling vulnerable people that having doubts and being depressed means you fucked up.

I don't think this is anything to joke about or treat as a harmless meme.
 

rochellepaws

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,452
Ireland
What a disjointed creep, I always thought there was something odd about his motivations in the early youtube days since he'd so frequently hide his videos real topic behind something light and fluffy. This all sounds like something straight from the cult textbook targeting the most vulnerable young people.

Which is exactly what he's doing it's more of a community house where everyone is free to do what they want.
Unless you're a woman, then you have to "hook up" if you want a bed.
 

FluxWaveZ

Persona Central
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
10,888
That's crazy. I guess something always felt "off" about him back then from those videos and how there was talk that it was only his persona, but how it felt like a lot of who he truly was was showing.
 

iWannaHat

Member
Jul 1, 2019
1,327
Never watched the guy since most of the stuff of his I came across in 2014ish, I found to be annoying or problematic. This stuff is crazy so far.
On another note tho, I should start a cult.