Return to Unfiction unforum
 a.r.g.b.b 
FAQ FAQ   Search Search 
 
Welcome!
New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.
Website Restoration Project
This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.
Announcements
This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.
This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.
  

The time now is Wed Nov 13, 2024 12:37 am
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)		 View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum
Calendar
 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
One Hour ARG
Moderators: imbri, ndemeter
View previous topicView next topic
Page 1 of 1 [7 Posts]  
Author Message
skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

 		One Hour ARG
So, we got big ARG's, we got little ARGs, but there is a big common point: They are often long, allowing weeks for suspense, character development, and a rich experience. That is a wonderful thing, but it also leaves people saying: "Theres three ARG's starting this week, its going to be 3 or 4 weeks before we find out which ones are awesome and which ones will fold"

So, in the tradition of the dinner murder mystery, how about a one hour ARG? I mean, literally like a hit and run game experience. In the span of one evening, our characters are born, they die, and experience drama and conflict, with whoever happened to be around to get caught up in the crossfire.

Hypothetical: A group of 5 known ARGer's are having a night on the town, and its Movie Night. As the lights dim, a discretely clad person drops a note in the lap of one of the ARGer's and before they know what hit them, he's gone again. Rabbit hole in hand, the crew ponder the note with lights from cell phones as the movie begins. "Enjoy The Show. TGIFriday's, "Sarah", table for 6. Be there 8PM". The game is afoot!

You see what I'm getting at? Tightly wound, flashy, local experiences, born and bred of a few small PM's and dropped like a bomb on hopefully willing participants. In my vision we take it out of the internet and more onto the streets like my hypothetical, but it would work in internet form as well.

Pros: Quick, fun, intense. Easy to wrap up, not a lot of financial burden.
Cons: Possibility of noone ready to play. You need an exit strategy that will save the idea for another day.
Overall note: You would want a generic plan, but by the instant nature of the game, you would probably want it somewhat fluid, able to change in scope.

I just think it would be a nice breath to have quick, romantic flings with the ARG world amongst all these grand, multi-month adventures. What do you guys think? I'm already scheming one up myself......

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 12:23 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 4033
Location: Here, obviously

 		Re: One Hour ARG
skilletaudio wrote:
So, we got big ARG's, we got little ARGs, but there is a big common point: They are often long, allowing weeks for suspense, character development, and a rich experience. That is a wonderful thing, but it also leaves people saying: "Theres three ARG's starting this week, its going to be 3 or 4 weeks before we find out which ones are awesome and which ones will fold"

So, in the tradition of the dinner murder mystery, how about a one hour ARG? I mean, literally like a hit and run game experience. In the span of one evening, our characters are born, they die, and experience drama and conflict, with whoever happened to be around to get caught up in the crossfire.

Hypothetical: A group of 5 known ARGer's are having a night on the town, and its Movie Night. As the lights dim, a discretely clad person drops a note in the lap of one of the ARGer's and before they know what hit them, he's gone again. Rabbit hole in hand, the crew ponder the note with lights from cell phones as the movie begins. "Enjoy The Show. TGIFriday's, "Sarah", table for 6. Be there 8PM". The game is afoot!

You see what I'm getting at? Tightly wound, flashy, local experiences, born and bred of a few small PM's and dropped like a bomb on hopefully willing participants. In my vision we take it out of the internet and more onto the streets like my hypothetical, but it would work in internet form as well.

Pros: Quick, fun, intense. Easy to wrap up, not a lot of financial burden.
Cons: Possibility of noone ready to play. You need an exit strategy that will save the idea for another day.
Overall note: You would want a generic plan, but by the instant nature of the game, you would probably want it somewhat fluid, able to change in scope.

I just think it would be a nice breath to have quick, romantic flings with the ARG world amongst all these grand, multi-month adventures. What do you guys think? I'm already scheming one up myself......


I think that's a wonderful idea.

I've already done it, though, but I called it a party rather than an ARG. Of course the way I did it, it had to be very local.

Also, I think people have been sort of leaning in that direction with birthday puzzle trails and so on. I'm not sure you could do it in an hour, but definitely in, say, an evening.

But yes, if you made it possible to play over the internet, you could be onto something very cool.
_________________
Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.

World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 1:21 am
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

 		Yeah, I'm thinking more like the dinner murder mystery and less like a puzzle trail. Consider: with a shortened time frame, you'd be well advised to focus the energies of the player. With things like a hard puzzle, or a scavanger hunt, you have deductive/procedural energies. I guess what I'm thinking of is something more character driven, role-playing/artistic-creative energies. with some puzzles for good measure. An evening's time frame lends itself more to a performance in my eyes, which would work perfectly in both cyberspace and a real life scenario.

I so have to dream on of these guys up and have it ready to go:)

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 11:01 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
QBKooky
Decorated


Joined: 24 Jul 2004
Posts: 281

 		Has anyone seen "The Man Who Knew Too Little"? It involves a kind of "interactive theatre" experience somewhat like this. Of course, in the movie Bill Murray doesn't realize it, but he gets involved with an ACTUAL mystery/conspiracy, rather than the one he paid for.
_________________
A clue!

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 12:34 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
konamouse
Official uF Dietitian


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 8010
Location: My own alternate reality

 		Dave S. did this for us as a warm up for Chasing the Wish. I think it was a couple of hours, all online. Fast & furious puzzle solving, exploration of a couple of websites, chatting up a storm as new windows and .gifs were opened and codes discovered. A wonderful team effort & lots of fun.
_________________
'squeek'
r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:08 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Crowfoot
Unfettered


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 385
Location: UK

 		I was once toying with a similar idea that instead ran over the period of three or so days. I think a small-ish one in such a short time would enhance the excitement and experience.
_________________
“Man is a gaming animal. He must always be trying to get the better in something or other.” - Charles Lamb.
(Player and PM = total addict)

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 7:01 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address MSN Messenger
 Back to top 
buff
Veteran


Joined: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 106

 		I did something quite alike that here in Stockholm. A small campaign called "Hitta Johanna" (Find Johanna). The players were notified by snail-mail, containing some posters and a cellphone. During one weekend, they were chasing clues all over town, solving cryptos and riddles and interacting with some of my actor-in-training-friends. They even managed some real-life crypto-analysis of Vignére and so forth...

It's a lot of fun - but its a hell of a job to plan!
_________________
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

"Do you really want to know what hides behind the kurtain?"

PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:40 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 1 of 1 [7 Posts]  
View previous topicView next topic
 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group