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[Dorkmaster]

[Centipede]

Sente, then take the cube for your own nefarious purposes.

[Hyperion]

[Hyperion]

Bruce, I'm aware that there were a lot of things to do within ILB other then axon hunting. Transcripts, SPEC about the audio clippings, putting them together, the ILB site itself with hidden whatchamacallits, etc.

I personally went and got one of the DVD's they were handing out, just because there was one point about 20 minutes from my house.

I liked ILB just because it opened up ARG's to a whole new crowd. Personally, I think this is one of the better mediums for gaming out there, and I wish more people could and would get involved.

When I mention an ARG to a group of friends, I want them all to say, "Oh, an ARG! I heard about those! How cool!"

And in ILB, sure, the villain did win, but did we feel like it did? I didn't, personally. Especially with the last audio clip, Melissa saying goodbye, got me all teary and spunge-like inside. Didn't feel like a villain triumphing to me.

What I meant about "the villain winning" is that sometimes, not everything comes up roses. Leave the ending open a little bit, add some more speculation and mystery to the story. I think of Final Fantasy VII, where we really have no idea what happened. Sure, the good guys won, but did everything turn out for the better? We have no idea.

Blur the lines a little bit. There doesn't need to be a set protagonist and antagonist. "The villain is the hero of his own story," is something I've always reminded myself when writing anything of my own, and I try to stay true to that by making sure that my reader/audience understands that while we may think he is doing evil, he might actually be working toward a greater good then we can understand.

The plot doesn't have to end in a pretty little package with bows and flowers and all those good times. I suppose what I'm looking for is a true Shakespearian tragedy in an ARG. Now that would really be something.

[thebruce]

[rose]

not to be a downer but it is possible

[KSG]

Gigantic Final Fantasy VII spoiler warning here.

[firefox]

dont forget the movie.. Final Fantasy: Advent Children which is ment to be coming out for ages and ages aahh fu square! that basically will tie up any loose ends, not that there's many, and ps omgwoot it looks good.

as to the deeper meaning of final fantasy- its an immersive game with a fantastic storyline. maybe there were no 'good guys' per say, but they were all cool.

as to how the arg will evolve- simply put for the future, more thrills, more explosions, more choice, more fanboys. its inevitable that such a great and compelling idea will flourish into a massive world market. for those bitter cynics like me (only on mondays) this means it wont be our little secret anymore. heck it wasn't 'our' little secret to begin with but yours the hardcore players from day 1, i got in on the 3rd floor, this baby is going to the top

[KSG]

No! Not Advent Children! I refuse to see that for several reasons, the most relevant of which is the loose ends thing. You know why we're talking about FF7 after eight years? Because all the major plot stuff was concluded, but there's still room for discussion. Now they're going to drop a bunch of non-anime versions of the characters on us, and have them put an end to years of entertaining discussions? Why? What did I ever do to them?

As to how ARG will evolve...well, let's just say that I expect the next webcam to be indoors.

[thebruce]

Re: not to be a downer but it is possible

[beano³]

...damn the work...hurrah London and the 18hours of running round being sat on bus and getting sore knees...

-<joke>porn</joke>

-Will just set standards that other ARG's will have to live upto if they want to do something as profound

-bringing in elements new to the genre, such as player interaction / involvement

-Helping developing technologies come forward. Such as encrypted SMS messages