unforum

[Ranger D]

[rpepper]

[thebruce]

I think it's an interesting situation as well, in that for the marketing aspect, they know people want an ARG, so while they haven't declared it to be an ARG, they're loving every minute of the press they're getting. Remember, even bad press is press. And the bad press is through no fault of their own, because they've never said it was something it wasn't - it was the general public's desires and heated debating that got the ball rolling. They're just revelling in it. Why would they try to dispell quell the argument? At this point, if they do nothing, it's great for them. If they do add an ARG factor, it'll be even greater for them. It's win-win for them.

For us it's win or lose. If we let the negative aspect of all this influence our enjoyment of campaign they have planned, we will come to hate it, and ultimately end up making other people hate because of the negativity being continually spread.

The only person making this a negative experience is yourself. Not Bungie. Not Microsoft.

TINAG is only ruined here if you expect TINAG. There's been no indication to expect it at all. There was definitely no reason to expect anything related to ilovebees, except the fact that they both have at least a remote relation to Halo. That's it. Nothing more.

The purpose of this is to reveal more of the Halo history to us. There will likely be characters, entities, events (even if only things happening in-game), and a deep, rich story that will help us appreciate Halo all the more. If you want puzzles and games, don't expect it. If it happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

On that note, you have every right to expect what you want to expect. But if you do, you don't have the right to complain if/when those expectations aren't met. You do a disservice to the rest of the community that didn't hold the same expectations.

I for one am glad this topic is so far confined to this thread. I was hesitant to read it, but decided to, wondering why it's gone for 7 pages.

[OneAnansi]

I apologize if somebody already mentioned this but, in a interview Microsoft stated this would last far into the summer, we're only two weeks in. Perhaps this is going to be so big that this is only the very beginning? (crosses fingers)

[Ranger D]

thebruce, since this is not an ARG, can we get the title of this forum changed to something more appropriate? Thanks.

[thebruce]

I don't have that power, but I've passed on the suggestion. Personally, I don't think it's that big of a deal since for this forum ARG is a fairly vague label for a topic, and there's not much else to call it at this point. If we can consider Sector Seven an ARG though it spoon-fed content with minimal interaction, I think Iris is fine at least within these forums as is. *shrug* we'll see what other mods and admins think. You'll see it change if they agree...
PS: don't debate here - there's a thread specifically for criticism of the "ARG"ness of Iris =P

[Phaedra]

[Anton P. Nym]

I'll agree that the discussion belongs here... but perhaps the tag on this thread should be [META] and not [Off-Topic].

-- Steve'll also mention that the easiest way to get kicked out of immersion is to see/hear a bunch of folks complaining about the lack of immersion. For the rest of us, can you keep it down to a dull roar?

[thebruce]

[Ranger D]

Given that this experience is in the unique position of having their creators known while it is happening, and gone on record describing what exactly they have created, perhaps we should take a cue from them and tag it as such.

I am of course speaking about this article.

[VIRAL] or [SPIRAL CAMPAIGN] ?

[thebruce]

What's interesting is that MS does plan on lots more here. One blogger noted contents of a supposedly intercepted 'internal memo' posted on another site (which removed the page it would seem), so I'm hesitant to post the link to this mirror, since it's entirely word of mouth, and very much meta... but a couple of interesting statements include:

...the marketing ramp to launch is accelerating with the start of the "Iris" campaign this week...
The program will span a string of activities and challenges that cross web activities and the real world - taking gamers on an incredible journey to discover trinkets of previously unknown information about the Halos, the Flood, the Forerunners, and the true origins behind the Halo trilogy..."

Mostly notable it's never referred to as an arg, let alone a game, but mainly a 'campaign' or 'program'... and yet, it'll supposedly include quite a lot of interaction. Whether it's ARG-type action or general 'find the hidden stuff', who knows, but with a growing story and plot, I'd assume and hope more the former than the latter.

Anyway, the memo is obviously intended to be private, but there's nothing there we didn't already know (or assume) anyway. Whether the memo was legitimate or not from the source, well take it with a grain of salt. But it lines up with our expectations of more of a marketing campaign than a full-fledged ARG along the lines of ILB that so many seem to have (unnecessarily) hoped for.

Still looks to have a lot of potential to be entertaining and information.

[DaRizat]

As someone else mentioned, the SOTA site has no Halo branding on it. Since SOTA hasnt even begun taking members yet, id say its way too early to discount any ARGness.

Perhaps Microsoft/Bungie wanted to start things off with a clearer link to Halo for marekting and legal purposes.

Lets not forget the fiasco pertaining to the Aqua Teen movie in Boston. You know MS doesnt want to get involved in anything like that, especially if they plan on including real world activities.

This is coming from someone who hasnt played any ARGs before in my life, and not even really a Halo fan. I just saw this, and I thought, very cool, Im going to follow this and see where it goes. So far im very intrigued.

Maybe its best to leave your predispositions at the door, cause Im not the least bit dissatisfied. Im more interested in Halo today than I was 11 days ago, thats for sure.

[srsizzy]

Honestly, we have no idea where this is going, it might be fun for you or it might not. That all depends on if you want to complain that this isn't ILB, or if you just want to take this and have fun with it. You can think of your own motives of playing some big special thing with a big community and interacting and wasting 300 miles of gas to go to a payphone, or think like a Microsoft executive who has a lot of people's interest in mind besides the niche community that is Unfiction and all the other swarms ARG-obsessed internet-goers. Some people want it easy, some people want it hard, and Bungie wants it the way that they're doing it so I think we should just accept that.

I highly doubt we've already figured out what this game has to reveal, and if Bungie is spending a lot of money making it then clearly they think it will be worth it, or they wouldn't bother.

So...yeah. This was largely in response to a post that was like 3 pages back, but still applies. This is an ARG as much as the Lost Experience (and to Cash who said that was a crappy game, I'd suggest talking to the hundreds of people that enjoyed it immensely and made a lot of friends by playing). Actually, The Lost Experience had a lot of user interaction with the 3 Bloggers who were involved in the game, as well as 2 nation-wide live radio shows, and it was really hard in the beginning and wasn't at all spoon-fed. The only way it WAS spoon-fed was that there was 1 really popular blog covering all the updates.

[Nightmare Tony]

Should be most interesting. Am hoping that it has what made ILB so special, characters and story you gave a darn about and cared for. world's snazziest puzzles wont make those any better.

LEt us see how it all plays out.

[mann alive]

i guess i'm a little disappointed that this doesn't seem to be a full blown ARG. i'm wrapped up in a project but dropped by to catch up, and all i'm finding is that nothing has really happened -- though i did get to see a pretty piece of flash that looks like a monitor with that AR symbol on its back.

when i first read that this thing was afoot, the article said 42 was not involved and the Frank O'Connor at bungie was running things. well, Frankie, god bless him, is a busy man with a lot of other responsibilities and can only give so much time to this. and it shows. lots of clues that lead no where, and phrases that sound cryptic lull the gullible into speculation but don't really take you anywhere.

it's like the ants thing MS did with the 360 launch -- they lure you with the trappings of an ARG, but don't provide the payoff an ARG gives you for the time involved. i end up being less excited about Halo 3 instead of more excited.

i don't mind innovative marketing, but don't take up more of my time than the experience pays for. it just sours me and then i become an active force against your message. i'm gonna die someday, dude.