unforum

[rui_curado]

Mark Lane's Logs: Project H.U.M.A.N.

[OhWhatProvidence]

This actually seems really interesting. Though I don't have enough for any sort of entry fee right now, and I have to say that from what I've seen of games where the players were pitted against each other, it didn't go very well-- at least not in my experiences. Either way, you've got my vote of confidence if it helps at all...

[Pixiestix]

Generally, people don't want to pay to play - exceptions tend to come in the form of funding a game via kick starter type setups or merch/swag within a game.
Also yes, ARGs are communal things. Game with teams/competition do not do well usually. The exceptions to that are mostly in the scavenger hunt variants.

I wish you good luck...

[jono]

Well, on a positive note I have to say this sounds like an interesting set up with a very well developed plot.

But I have to voice the concerns of the other two posters. Many ARG players do not like to pay to play and you might hit issues as this is your first post on the forum. Due to the slightly ethereal form of ARGs and their habit of just stopping midway through due to unforeseen circumstances I think a lot of people will be uneasy about paying for a game from a team with no history in the medium.

Also history shows games where players compete against each other tend to go badly. I have seen games with leader boards do okay, especially where the points we not about solving the puzzle but for doing other plot related things. The issue is a lot of ARG puzzle solving involves the community combining knowledge and exchanging ideas. So I suck at cryptography but have a quite detailed knowledge of symbolism and thus within the forum I can combine my knowledge with others to reach the end goal. The issue is I have no motivation to do that if I am competing with everyone else and thus the game could get rather stuck. That and the logistics of competitions can be hard, if it is a "first to the finish" contest then certain people might be disadvantaged by time zone, when the LOST ARG ran for instance I was never able to participate in the live radio parts due to the fact they ran in the middle of the night for me. Also a large majority of the forum lurk on a lot of games, if it is behind a pay wall then you might loose a good chunk of the player base who would come in and solve puzzles now and again but can't afford to be involved in every puzzle due to life commitments.

Also from a more personal note, I have always found the joy in ARGs to be following the narrative rather than the pursuit of victory but again, that is a more personal touch.

Despite this rather long negative post, I wish you luck and I hope something good comes out of this, you have a very interesting idea and seem to have thought this through.

[rui_curado]

Thank you all for the comments so far.

Perhaps this game doesn't follow exactly the same pattern as other ARGs I've seen here. Our game is not a live event. It's post-event. That's why I call it a "FARG", forensic ARG.

Mark's mission is 27 days long, and it's being "recorded" right now. He's on day 17. At the end, he'll be forced to "disappear" until what he found is brought to justice. That's when the player gets in, to recover the hidden evidence trail he left, and uncover the rest of the conspiracy.

Like a conventional game, Mark Lane's Logs will be a finished product. The complete game is set-up before it launches. So there's no worry about whether the game can be finished or not.

Players can play as individuals or as teams. The game is scored on completion and not on a first-to-reach basis, although some evidence items give a bonus to those of find them first. Time is still important as we will introduce a time-erosion factor on the scoring.

Finally, we think a fee of around $6 is very reasonable, especially thinking that part of that money will get back to players.

And yes, we're expecting to launch a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGogo (we're based in Europe) so that things get more transparent, especially the money prizes we intend to give out.

[Pixiestix]

Eep eep eep... You can't post in this thread anymore. It may seem a bit unfair, as you asked for feedback but can't respond to us BUT you posted your trailhead, and now TOS states no more.

[petunia]

I'm not sure how ARGy this one will really be, since there's already a predetermined course and whatnot. I guess that remains to be seen. It does sound intriguing.

Six bucks doesn't sound all that bad for a good experience (if that's a one-time fee), but yeah, ARG players would be taking a risk they're not used to taking there. You might very well capture some non-ARG players, especially console gamers who are used to spending $50 and hoping it'll pan out into a good game.

Maybe a free, playable first chapter or prologue is in order. Trailers are nice, but people are going to want to know what kind of interactions they can expect if they do decide to pony up the money.

As an original (and ultimately disappointed) subscriber to the old Majestic game, I really hope this one does well!

ETF spelling