unforum

[Thunderwolf]

Rabbit holes - clearly IG or clearly OOG?

[Russell]

It really wouldn't bother me either way for initial contact. However it probably wouldn't benefit you much by getting the initial information up front. As the ARG progresses and we are introduced to new characters, you would likely need to contact them in different ways and an email or other communication from them out of the blue would likely not fit the story unless there was a good reason.

Having the initial part oog would at least get around the problem of how to launch the trailhead though.

[thebruce]

It depends on the person who signs up, I think.
Personally, I prefer non-meta signups - that is, a simple initial opt-in request like an email address for contact.
If you have physical rabbitholes to mail out, that's a different beast.

By priority, I'd personally start with seeking out willing community members who have already shared personal information (emails, phone #'s, addresses, etc) with the expectation of receiving things; that way you capture their joy of surprise, instead of a "this is a game" style of opt-in.

Then move on to more of an in-game request for information; somehow masking the requests with in an in-narrative reasoning.

But if you really want a chance for more sign-ups, then I'd move to the meta signup (requesting whatever info you'd like), where people opt in knowing exactly what they're signing up for, while it also blatantly takes them out of the in-game narrative.

The latter seems to be the more common method these days due to the added trust factor, but it takes away from the 'classic' ARG ethic of no public recognition of a project being a work of fiction (the 'alternate reality' aspect of the classic ARG).

These days, I don't think it matters all that much. I think ARG purists have generally moved on, accepting that ARGs, especially commercial ones, just can't be constructed in the same what-is-real manner as the classics. Grassroots though? *shrug*

It really is up to you.

[Thunderwolf]

[gninrael]

As someone who has been a PM on about half a dozen grassroots games, I will say that it's very easy to access emails and Twitter accounts through the interaction thread on this site. I like to compile an email list this way, then send out an email trailhead. Or, I will create a trailhead on Twitter, linking to my in-game website, and follow a bunch of people who follow Unforums or ARGnet, or other players.

I, personally, like immersive trailheads rather than OOG ones.

[Crescent]

agreed - prefer the first point of contact to be in game - it sets the tone for all players, allows the choice to be made at initial get-go, and allows you to establish the boundaries as well for what your character[s] might say/do/want, thus allowing players to decide if the genre/style is for them [and thus prevent a large amount of people dropping out initially]