(Q - Romain: Good evening Michel. Romain on the phone. It's not to make you uncomfortable in fact, quite the contrary, it's because I feel that you are someone
one who is sincere and honest. I've been nice for 7 years, I listen to all the vocals, I heard everything you mentioned about Max who, how can I put it, by his attitude and by his sound.
speech through the madis, would have searched a little, so I don't know if the words are going to be right, but to lead the owls around, or to trick them a little, could we say, it's a.
question in two parts, could we say that Max lied in the curses?)
.
MB: So, look, Max had the same behavior towards the participants in the game that he had towards me. That is to say that at the start of the game, everything was well planned, all precautions had been taken, all arrangements had been made.
And then there was the bankruptcy of his publishing house, he made up for it as best he could and at that moment, I think that all his actions, all the way he animated the game, indeed through the madits, through the indications that he could provide or give to the press, I think that all these actions were oriented towards... his needs in view of the situation which was obviously not simple. Well, it was his choice to work with his own publishing house, he made a mistake, etc. And so everything that followed was a function of certain moments where it was more urgent or necessary to direct the game more or less, etc. And that was never on his side…, the concern was never to be extremely straightforward in relation to the animation of the game. I say the animation because he did not have the title of organizer, even if in fact he more or less organized it. And all these actions were directed by the needs of the moment, for him.
(Q - Romain: Very clear, because I wonder if I'm taking an example…)
MB: Wait, we're going to go up to the moment when the owl was seized, it was later obviously, but it illustrates the thing perfectly. From the moment the owl was seized, we know today that the original countermark had disappeared, that there was another countermark put in its place because it was still necessary to ensure that the cache had not been removed on the day countermark number 1 was put back in place. It remains, I am convinced, which was certainly his intention. But nevertheless, we see clearly that he acted in relation to a state of emergency, in relation to an external situation, unknown to the players and unknown to me, when he did it. He did all this in relation to himself. When I came in 2003, for the 10th anniversary of La Chouette, and I was taught something I was totally unaware of, since at the time I hardly watched television, I didn't not much evolved in this regard, but I was told that The Golden Owl, the original, had been shown on television. I was extremely surprised, since in my mind, at that moment, it should still be in its trunk, it should never have come out, that was what was agreed. So, we can clearly see, there, he did it because he needed to get a little publicity, and certainly that in relation to his treasure hunting business, it must have been interesting for him. But I was not warned. So, if you want, all this allows me to say today, the fact that I say today, the actions of Max Valentin in the context of the progress of the game have always been according to his own needs, or the necessities of the moment, that's it.
(Q - Romain: So very clear, humanly, we completely understand you, your positioning, that of Max Valentin, etc…)
MB: For me, it's not a human positioning, it's a factual positioning. Everything I say here, I have proof, of course.
(Q - Romain: Ah yes, yes. So yes, it's factual for you. Afterwards, well, there are obviously human consequences for you as well. That makes sense. But for me, what I mean by that, if I stay in the factual too, let's imagine... Well, let's imagine No, I trust your word. I know that... Well, what you say is very clear. But when I think of Max Valentin, let's imagine at the time that he, through the curses, took the players by storm, well, I don't really know what the exact term is, because I don't know all of them. the ins and outs. But he said that it was necessary, for example, a second card. He said that you couldn't touch two sentinels with your hands. Anyway, all this folklore, somewhere. he created, that he developed around the owl Let's imagine that at that time, by a happy or unfortunate chance, someone found the owl. This person then realized that everything that had. said Max Valentin or a small or large part of what he said in the madis was false. In what situation would Max Valentin ultimately have found himself? That was my question. Because he would have ended up in an extremely unpleasant position in the end. Because a lot of players could have blamed him, wait, you told us, that in such a madit, that in such a madit, that in such a madit, and then in the end now someone has found it, we realize that it was quite far from the truth. You see what I mean ? That's why I'm telling you that I don't want to put you in an unpleasant situation. On the contrary, it is to your credit. Because if I tell you this, it's because I know that you are capable of answering sincerely. It was important to me to ask you this question because I've been asking it for a while and I have the opportunity to talk to you.)
MB: Regarding the reaction he might have had, etc., or the reaction the players might have had if it had been discovered at that time, if the owl had been discovered at that time, I can't say. since that didn't happen. On the other hand, there were, I don't know much about it because I was never passionate about it, but I still heard clearly that there had been problems with other hunts. I was able to read like everyone else, let's say, the boost he gave to Meteor when Orval's treasure was discovered. I read that some hunts had been canceled or suspended. Because there were leaks or whatever, there was this kind of problem. But I believe that when in a hunt there is a winner, the winner eclipses everything else. We see the thing, there is a winner, he is happy, he still solved the riddles, etc., almost all of them, I don't know, but anyway, well, if you like, it eclipses a little bit the controversies. But seen from my side, I think that the first one who would have complained if there had been problems, it could have been me too, since at the time...
And then especially when I understood from the age of ten that there were still things that were strange, like the second bronze which he swore he didn't know existed or things like that, I decided Well, he's obviously not clear, he's not telling the truth, so it caught my attention, I told him. And that's not how I would have reacted either. I do not know. Afterwards, I also think that the period, the last years ultimately, before his death, were not the best, since we were precisely in this period when the owl was seized. And I think that there were some somewhat regrettable things that were said, or that circulated, launched by him or not, and as for the Minitel era, I think it's the same, I I think that the bankruptcies of publishers, publishers who, by the way, were always chosen by him, there were still three bankruptcies of publishers, I think that must have compromised what he hoped for, well the output that he expected from the operation, and perhaps that encouraged him to prolong it a little, or things like that, I mentioned it very clearly, but there you go, that's the other side of the medal.
If we now want the good side of the coin, we still have to always see things like that, and today, I'm really learning to see them like that. It is that this character, this troublemaker that Max Valentin ultimately was, at very positive moments, at other moments in my opinion very negative, still gave this game a dimension, a density that it does not. would never have known. You can't compare the owl with any treasure hunt going on today, even if it lasts a little more or less, but it doesn't matter. But it doesn't have the same atmosphere at all. That’s why I say it, it’s really a story that we’re writing. And this character of Max Valentin, makes the treasure hunt of the Golden Owl practically become a thriller because there is a bad guy in it and because things happen. There is no such scenario in any other treasure hunt. So we must not just be sorry about it either, we must say to ourselves that the pleasure we can take in participating in this game, and all the same, in the writings I receive, there are many people who clearly are very happy. This pleasure is due to the fact that there is this whole scenario, there is the cold case side that I mentioned, which requires being a little interested in all that to understand that there is has some things that are unreliable, others that are, etc. It’s a dimension that we would never have known if we hadn’t had a Max Valentin
.
MB: So, look, Max had the same behavior towards the participants in the game that he had towards me. That is to say that at the start of the game, everything was well planned, all precautions had been taken, all arrangements had been made.
And then there was the bankruptcy of his publishing house, he made up for it as best he could and at that moment, I think that all his actions, all the way he animated the game, indeed through the madits, through the indications that he could provide or give to the press, I think that all these actions were oriented towards... his needs in view of the situation which was obviously not simple. Well, it was his choice to work with his own publishing house, he made a mistake, etc. And so everything that followed was a function of certain moments where it was more urgent or necessary to direct the game more or less, etc. And that was never on his side…, the concern was never to be extremely straightforward in relation to the animation of the game. I say the animation because he did not have the title of organizer, even if in fact he more or less organized it. And all these actions were directed by the needs of the moment, for him.
(Q - Romain: Very clear, because I wonder if I'm taking an example…)
MB: Wait, we're going to go up to the moment when the owl was seized, it was later obviously, but it illustrates the thing perfectly. From the moment the owl was seized, we know today that the original countermark had disappeared, that there was another countermark put in its place because it was still necessary to ensure that the cache had not been removed on the day countermark number 1 was put back in place. It remains, I am convinced, which was certainly his intention. But nevertheless, we see clearly that he acted in relation to a state of emergency, in relation to an external situation, unknown to the players and unknown to me, when he did it. He did all this in relation to himself. When I came in 2003, for the 10th anniversary of La Chouette, and I was taught something I was totally unaware of, since at the time I hardly watched television, I didn't not much evolved in this regard, but I was told that The Golden Owl, the original, had been shown on television. I was extremely surprised, since in my mind, at that moment, it should still be in its trunk, it should never have come out, that was what was agreed. So, we can clearly see, there, he did it because he needed to get a little publicity, and certainly that in relation to his treasure hunting business, it must have been interesting for him. But I was not warned. So, if you want, all this allows me to say today, the fact that I say today, the actions of Max Valentin in the context of the progress of the game have always been according to his own needs, or the necessities of the moment, that's it.
(Q - Romain: So very clear, humanly, we completely understand you, your positioning, that of Max Valentin, etc…)
MB: For me, it's not a human positioning, it's a factual positioning. Everything I say here, I have proof, of course.
(Q - Romain: Ah yes, yes. So yes, it's factual for you. Afterwards, well, there are obviously human consequences for you as well. That makes sense. But for me, what I mean by that, if I stay in the factual too, let's imagine... Well, let's imagine No, I trust your word. I know that... Well, what you say is very clear. But when I think of Max Valentin, let's imagine at the time that he, through the curses, took the players by storm, well, I don't really know what the exact term is, because I don't know all of them. the ins and outs. But he said that it was necessary, for example, a second card. He said that you couldn't touch two sentinels with your hands. Anyway, all this folklore, somewhere. he created, that he developed around the owl Let's imagine that at that time, by a happy or unfortunate chance, someone found the owl. This person then realized that everything that had. said Max Valentin or a small or large part of what he said in the madis was false. In what situation would Max Valentin ultimately have found himself? That was my question. Because he would have ended up in an extremely unpleasant position in the end. Because a lot of players could have blamed him, wait, you told us, that in such a madit, that in such a madit, that in such a madit, and then in the end now someone has found it, we realize that it was quite far from the truth. You see what I mean ? That's why I'm telling you that I don't want to put you in an unpleasant situation. On the contrary, it is to your credit. Because if I tell you this, it's because I know that you are capable of answering sincerely. It was important to me to ask you this question because I've been asking it for a while and I have the opportunity to talk to you.)
MB: Regarding the reaction he might have had, etc., or the reaction the players might have had if it had been discovered at that time, if the owl had been discovered at that time, I can't say. since that didn't happen. On the other hand, there were, I don't know much about it because I was never passionate about it, but I still heard clearly that there had been problems with other hunts. I was able to read like everyone else, let's say, the boost he gave to Meteor when Orval's treasure was discovered. I read that some hunts had been canceled or suspended. Because there were leaks or whatever, there was this kind of problem. But I believe that when in a hunt there is a winner, the winner eclipses everything else. We see the thing, there is a winner, he is happy, he still solved the riddles, etc., almost all of them, I don't know, but anyway, well, if you like, it eclipses a little bit the controversies. But seen from my side, I think that the first one who would have complained if there had been problems, it could have been me too, since at the time...
And then especially when I understood from the age of ten that there were still things that were strange, like the second bronze which he swore he didn't know existed or things like that, I decided Well, he's obviously not clear, he's not telling the truth, so it caught my attention, I told him. And that's not how I would have reacted either. I do not know. Afterwards, I also think that the period, the last years ultimately, before his death, were not the best, since we were precisely in this period when the owl was seized. And I think that there were some somewhat regrettable things that were said, or that circulated, launched by him or not, and as for the Minitel era, I think it's the same, I I think that the bankruptcies of publishers, publishers who, by the way, were always chosen by him, there were still three bankruptcies of publishers, I think that must have compromised what he hoped for, well the output that he expected from the operation, and perhaps that encouraged him to prolong it a little, or things like that, I mentioned it very clearly, but there you go, that's the other side of the medal.
If we now want the good side of the coin, we still have to always see things like that, and today, I'm really learning to see them like that. It is that this character, this troublemaker that Max Valentin ultimately was, at very positive moments, at other moments in my opinion very negative, still gave this game a dimension, a density that it does not. would never have known. You can't compare the owl with any treasure hunt going on today, even if it lasts a little more or less, but it doesn't matter. But it doesn't have the same atmosphere at all. That’s why I say it, it’s really a story that we’re writing. And this character of Max Valentin, makes the treasure hunt of the Golden Owl practically become a thriller because there is a bad guy in it and because things happen. There is no such scenario in any other treasure hunt. So we must not just be sorry about it either, we must say to ourselves that the pleasure we can take in participating in this game, and all the same, in the writings I receive, there are many people who clearly are very happy. This pleasure is due to the fact that there is this whole scenario, there is the cold case side that I mentioned, which requires being a little interested in all that to understand that there is has some things that are unreliable, others that are, etc. It’s a dimension that we would never have known if we hadn’t had a Max Valentin