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[Phoenix1337]

[META] Why This Is A Marketing Campaign, Not An ARG

[BoonIsha]

Re: [Off-Topic] Why This Is A Marketing Campign, Not An ARG

[Urk]

Yes, there has been a distinct lack of user interaction to this point. Let's hop it picks up.

[Silent_shadow900]

This is even more off-topic, but did the Nine Inch Nails "ARG" have any user interaction? I think it was the same sort of thing.

[BoonIsha]

[timrek]

It's seems to have a lot of potential, I think it just needs a little more time to get rolling at full speed. It will probably pick up as more and more people get into it and hear about it.

[Anton P. Nym]

Just a note in reference to the eventual ILB comparisons; at this same stage in the ILB game folks were bellyaching about the lack of puzzles too. Honestly. So absence of puzzles so far doesn't mean the PMs won't insert them later.

As to interaction, well, remember that on the Halo 3 "insider" site there was a permission field for them to access your cell phone. No guarantees that you'll be getting phone calls from rampant Monitors, but I'm thinking we're a long ways away from seeing everything that'll be on offer in Iris yet.

-- Steve is content to wait patiently and see what else becomes available to us.

[BoonIsha]

[Phyltre]

I think you guys came to this with the (unwarranted) expectation that this would be anything like ILB. We had no reason to think it would be.

When you create expectations for something you're only limiting your ability to enjoy it when it actually happens. Just take it for what it is, instead of pondering what it could be, and have fun.

[turbov21]

[mithical]

I agree with Mr. Types-In-Third-Person: I think it's just getting started. Hopefully I'll do more than go along for the ride on this one, but if I can't help, I'm pretty sure it will turn out to be one hell of a ride.

[Slothboy]

[Phaedra]

I'm not sure that it's actually an ARG (however you define it) and I'm not sure that it's actually trying to be.

But if ILB is your reference for ARGs, no, I don't think this is going to be the same sort of game.

What it is, I believe, is a creative way to get backstory out there for hard-core Halo fans, and help generate some excitement for the release. I don't know if there will be character interaction, or puzzles. Bungie has come out and admitted who's behind it, and they've linked directly to the Halo 3 website. They weren't exactly on a different planet during ILB: I'm sure they're aware of why it worked. If they chose to break the curtain, and to push toward the Halo 3 site, I don't think it's out of ignorance of how ARGs work. They may not want a full-scale ARG.

Bear in mind that plenty of marketing scenarios, as well as plenty of other web storytelling forms, can take a few pages from the ARG playbook without being what many people here would consider a full-fledged ARG, and there's nothing wrong with that.

So I'd say you'll enjoy this the most if you don't hold too hard to expectations. Take what they're giving you on its own merits.

If, at the end, you've enjoyed yourself, everybody's won, and it doesn't matter how closely it adhered to any particular structure.

[Killswitch333]

[Phoenix1337]