unforum

[rose]

How and why the ARG community works

[bill]

For just about every game I can recall, there has been a core group of rabid players, a larger group of interested and active players, and then the silent majority.

The rabid players are a PuppetMaster's best friend. They maintain the guides, trails, and wikis about the game. They function as cheerleaders when the game gets stuck, and they become the braintrust for all things related to that specific game. They also tend to become the keepers of the forums and chats. They invariable end up moderating both and helping to ensure information is organized and accessible and keep the signal to noise ratio at acceptable levels.

The interested and active players login periodically, but they might lag a bit and miss live interactions, find out about the solutions to puzzles after the fact, and usually aren't the first person to notice updates. They do, however, actively participate in the forums, contribute valuable spec, and build a cameraderie with other players both socially and within the context of the game. They aren't necessarily lurking 24x7, but they enjoy the interaction and they like what ARGs have to offer. They value the experience as much as they enjoy the story.

Everyone knows the lurkers. Usually, you'll never find out who they are. They rarely post their thoughts, they almost never show up in chat, and they approach alternate reality games more as a passive experience rather than an active one. I have no idea why they play this way. It might be a simple lack of disposable time. They might be shy or introverted. Whatever their reasons, they obviously enjoy following along enough to visit the game sites and follow the pack. Often times, they'll register for the game through an ingame form or through a metasite (if one exists). Once they've done so, you won't know if they are still around. The only way most of them can be detected is by looking at traffic statistics both on the game sites and in the page views on the active player forums.

I remain convinced that ARGs wouldn't exist without all three groups of players. Even if the lurkers don't actively participate on a regular basis, they still provide an audience. This audience feeds the other subsets of players. A lurker on this game might be your star player on the next.

So how do we function as a community? A number of interesting rules of netiquette evolved very quickly around the granddaddy game, The Beast. Partially in response to the sizable player base, partially because of the unique nature of the game, the Cloudmakers put together a set of de facto rules and expected behaviors which have helped, and possibly, hindered the growth of the genre.

Regardless of your opinion on that subject (and I'm not going there), those guidelines and the core player group got us through the biggest influx of new players we've ever seen. The forums were unwieldy at times, and no one (except Jane) probably read every post, but the game remained playable and fun for most of us.

If nothing else, this proves the robustness of our community structure. I'm sure it will continue to evolve. It may even fracture further as people experiment with different strategies and structures. But overall, our community has overcome a significant plateau. We went from no active games to a record number in just a few, short months.

You can see the growth just in the number of grassroots games running right now. I count at present eight active games with three in the wings. Almost every active game is being produced by intensely committed fans of the genre and regardless of your opinion of the effort, the effort and interest is there. This isn't just a bubble, I believe it's a trend and as more people get experience under their belts, the quality and playability of the games will improve dramatically.

[Phaedra]

Re: How and why the ARG community works

[Nightmare Tony]

For me, the cameraderie alltogether and the whole community feeling in th Bees game was a joy to behold. I am saddened that it is now over with, leaving all of us with good memories. Sigh.

For overall, it is still itneresting, a game type where the rules evolve and are learned along the way. that gives a mysterious edge over games with the rules known and fixed in stone.

[Alzheimers]

The community *is* the game.

It isn't the puzzles or the cryptic messages. It isn't fancy animated webpages with obtuse clues hinting at secret links. It isn't the seemingly random freeweb pages coated in gleaming ciphertext. It isn't the reward, the cookie, the pot of gold at the end of the obsfucated and thoroughly unrecognizeable to the outside world rainbow.

It's a group of people, working together to achieve a common goal: to experience the story from the inside.

It's the most immersive experience ever. Storytelling by the collective input of every player.

The PM merely provides the backdrop.

These forums are the stage.

And we are it's actors.

[rose]

some thoughts

[MageSteff]

Re: some thoughts

[Dorkmaster]

One little thing that I want to contribute to this discussion is something touched upon, but oft taken for granted here... that new people, in general, are viewed as just as valuable to the ARG efforts. That we value diversity, as the article stated, is a huge deal. I mean, without sounding egotistical, I think it's fair to say that most people here could say they've read something by me, and don't think me as a complete idiot (or if they do, they know it from at least reading through a couple of posts of mine in their entirety first).
What this tells me is that I have a voice here. I try not to abuse that, or anything (ignore the number of posts ) But seriously, I came here with no knowledge of anything ARG. I now feel like I can contribute to nearly any ARG given a little research time beforehand. Armed with Search, Google, and their individual life experience, anyone can be as valuable of a player as anyone else. Even the most experienced ARGer could be surprised by the insights of say, a programmer from Canada ('sup thebruce!) While at the same time, there is reverence for the oldskoolers out there (howdy Shad0!) and all the inbetweeners...
Point is, that as Alzheimers eloquently put it: The community IS the game. Beyond that, though, is the tolerance of new thought. The reason I keep coming back, is because I feel like I have a chance at helping out with the next puzzle, or Next Big ARG (NBARG? ). That is because everyone is accepting of all, as long as they have a direct line to a trout if they need it.

That's huge. That doesn't happen a lot in life. That's why ARG is different. That's why the community is the thing. That's why it works, and why it grows. It fosters diversity, it fosters risk-taking thoughts, it fosters imagination and creativity, and it challenges you. When's the last time you got that from ANYTHING ELSE?

[weephun]

[The Watcher]

I'm agreeing with the general consensus here. It really IS the community.

I can say without exaggeration that Unfiction and the whole ARG community is one of the friendliest, most welcoming groups anywhere. I have never seen anybody judged by when they joined, or their post count. The newbie is jsut as valuable as the seasoned veteran.

That's what makes this group unique. This forum is devoid of flaming, hate, anger. Even the annoying "OLD!" banner seen on other forums is replaced with a gentle .

Every dayhere I find something that makes me laugh,puzzle,think,ponder,etc.etc.

The point is this: Without ARGs, this would still be an excellent community. Without this community, there would be no ARGs.

[MageSteff]

[greywolf]