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 Forum index » Meta » Puppetmaster Help
[Recruitment/Discussion] The Perfect ARG
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moth
Kilroy

Joined: 07 Feb 2007
Posts: 1

 		[Recruitment/Discussion] The Perfect ARG
Hi everyone, I've been lurking on the boards for some time and thought I'd finally come out into the light. I've been trying to convince my students for a while about the exciting narrative possibilities of ARGs, I've even had a few of them try some through the unfiction boards, but they remain unconvinced. I got to thinking about what exactly the problem could be, and after speaking with them I came to some conclusions. What turned them off?

1. Wonky writing. In many ARGs the writing is extremely inconsistent. Many employ overused scifi/thriller cliches or clumsily introduce contrived puzzles.
2. Little to no character interaction. Often the emphasis on hardcore puzzle-solving obscures character development, turning off more casual players.
3. Steep learning curve.
4. Inconsistent pacing.

All of these factors conspired to make my students feel that despite their best efforts, they were having no effect on the course of the game, which defeats the purpose of their participation.

So how to remedy the situation? Write my own ARG, of course! But before that I wanted to hold sort of an open-ended discussion about how to go about it. Hopefully we'll get into all sorts of heavy ARG theory which will inform the actual ARG in question. Here are the rough specs for the ARG I have in mind:

-Intense character interaction. The far end of this is players feeling uncertain as to whether or not certain other players are actually PMs or are collaborating with PMs.
-Player-directed story arcs. This ties in with the previous bullet point. The PMs will respond to player interaction in dynamic ways, altering story arcs depending on how players respond to them. Hopefully, this will lead in some cases to player/PM collaboration - that is, particularly dedicated players will actually be incorporated into the story itself.
-Directionlessness/confusion in a supportive context. It will not always be clear what a player is "supposed to do." Nonetheless, there will still always be plenty of things to do and whatever the player does he/she will be rewarded by the game.
-Context-coherent puzzles. Puzzles will justify themselves rather than relying on a certain character's penchant for weird puzzles.
-Differentiated content for different styles of play. That is, players who enjoy puzzles should be able to progress semi-independently of players who prefer character interaction, and vice versa.
-A reliance on real-world content. No matter how well-designed they are, "websites from the future" have a tendency to wear on a player's suspension of disbelief. Flikr, Blogger, YouTube, Wikipedia, and other community sites will feature prominently in the gameplay.
-Creative measures to bridge the ARG/real world divide. Obviously, a key factor in ARG success is the suspension of disbelief, and yet, lines can be crossed - authorities contacted, private information made public, sites hacked, etc. How can PMs manage these competing imperatives?
-And, lastly, consistent editorial vision. This basically encompasses all of the previous bullet points, and it really is the most important one. This does not mean, however, an essentially undemocratic management system.

So that's about it for now. If you think you'd like to be involved in the project, or even if you just have some thoughts about the outline above, feel free to contribute here or contact me at lbmothSPLATyahoo.com . I'm primarily interested in getting a good discussion going, and actually starting the ARG is a second-order ambition (though still a very real one).

I myself know very little about web design, coding etc. Although we will need a competent tech person (or two) when the ARG gets off the ground, the type of work may be lighter than with other ARGs due to the emphasis on character interaction and real-world content. We'll also need some good hardcore puzzle people. Nonetheless, I'd like to open the discussion to any and all interested, regardless of experience, because we'll need all kinds of help to get this done.

So what do you think? I'll be posting on other relevant threads and maybe link back to here. I hope everyone is doing well.

-Luís

EDIT: Right now I'm reading through the "too much line blurring" thread:
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16772&start=15
I just want to make clear that I'm well aware of the rules of this message board. I've watched a decent ARG implode due in part to a violation of those rules. There isn't any need to restate them here (of course, if you feel compelled to do so, feel free). The merits and drawbacks of "line blurring" are exactly the sort of thing I'd like to discuss. I just wanted to get that out of the way.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:05 am
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Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


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

 		Re: [Recruitment/Discussion] The Perfect ARG
moth wrote:
EDIT: Right now I'm reading through the "too much line blurring" thread:
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16772&start=15
I just want to make clear that I'm well aware of the rules of this message board. I've watched a decent ARG implode due in part to a violation of those rules. There isn't any need to restate them here (of course, if you feel compelled to do so, feel free). The merits and drawbacks of "line blurring" are exactly the sort of thing I'd like to discuss. I just wanted to get that out of the way.


Wait, I'm confused. You say you're reading that thread, and yet you want to discuss the merits and drawbacks of "line blurring," so why aren't you commenting in that thread, which is, after all, about the merits and drawbacks of too much line blurring?

ETA: See here for a discussion about pitfalls and advantages of line-blurring. And here (although it turns into a discussion of using UF in-game, it starts out as a discussion of line-blurring. And here. And here.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:12 pm
Last edited by Phaedra on Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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konamouse
Official uF Dietitian


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

 		moth - read the Sammeeeees game threads in the archives. labfly created an ARG that was real-time/real-world (not set in the future) with heavy character interaction. Very story (not puzzle) driven. Sounds like this is the example you want to show your students.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:20 pm
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		Re: [Recruitment/Discussion] The Perfect ARG
You've tagged this thread for *both* recruitment *and* discussion. That's gonna get confusing. If we do split it out, Phaedra has a point about finding existing discussion threads for specific topics. I'll still make a side comment about what your students had to say about their bad experiences here.
moth wrote:
1. Wonky writing. In many ARGs the writing is extremely inconsistent. Many employ overused scifi/thriller cliches or clumsily introduce contrived puzzles.
2. Little to no character interaction. Often the emphasis on hardcore puzzle-solving obscures character development, turning off more casual players.
3. Steep learning curve.
4. Inconsistent pacing.

My take is that some of these are symptoms of games where the PMs (amateur or professional) were more intent on creating a *game* or an "experience" and not in writing a story or an ARG in the classic sense. Sometimes the PMs are people who have never written a book or script before, or have never written character dialog. Inconsistent writing can come from having multiple writers who have never collaborated on a project before. Depending on the project(s) your students sampled, they might never have found something intended to be immersive fiction and not just a glorified puzzle trail.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:16 pm
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Nightmare Tony
Entrenched

Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 824
Location: Meadowbrook

 		For the points on storyline, the simplest way is to begin with a solid storyline and solid characters. EVERYTHING the characters do in game must be something they would do in real life, or depending on if the situation is unusual, what would they do? also, what are your puzzle reasons? Context means there is a purpose. Who gave the puzzle and why? What does it mean in the grand scheme of things?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:35 pm
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Atom_Force
Veteran


Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 118
Location: East Coast, USA

 		Moth, I do have to agree somewhat on the subject of lack of interaction, however, interaction must be done with great care as well.

The reason I created my first game was because of seeing lack of interaction, but it has to be controlled to a certain degree. Characters have to know the right time to drop clues, and how to stall for perfect timing without being obvious. It is a very tricky technique and one I hope to someday become a pro at.

PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:00 pm
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