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[AtionSong]

[CONCEPT] ARG in a MMORPG

[catherwood-offline]

Re: [CONCEPT] ARG in a MMORPG

[Caz]

On a normal mmorpg: i think you need 3 or 4 (may be more) players in on it and acting as living rabbit holes tell other players about the plot of the ARG. unless you can put clues into the game world this players will be the only point of contact between the ARG and mmorpg.

Build your own rabbit hole: in second life you can buy a bit of land and build your rabbit hole there that set up the story. i don't what Uru Live is like for buying land and building stuff on it. but you need to have some hidden so unless it lets you upload textures [it may what you to use there stock file]. or write book that you can live that other players can read its going to be very hard.

[vpisteve]

ARGs categorically can't be ARGs if they take place exclusively inside an MMORPG. If it happens inside a virtual reality played through your computer, it's an Adventure Game.

ARGs are ARGs because they're platformless. They take place through the normal conduits of information in our everyday lives.

It's all about the user interface, baby.

And yeah, I'm painting with a broad brush here to make a point. And yeah, this has been spun round and round countless times before. But I'll say it again: If it's a cool game played within the confines of Uru or that overrated thing called 2nd life, while cool, it's not an ARG. They need to call it something else.

[thebruce]

thus the contrast between Virtual Reality, and Alternate Reality. I picture virtual as a self-enclosed entity, a world in and of itself where the participant 'enters in'... as opposed to alternate, which is more of an open concept, which asks a participant to believe and treat something fictional as in their reality, an alternative set of events that one can follow within the bounds of the person's existing life. It's not so much about entering into a virtual reality, as it is the alternate reality asking for a place in someone's own reality.

But then, if you consider a certain virtual reality to be well formed, and self-sustaining, then might be possible to run an ARG within the virtual world? The way I see, ARGs work with your existing person - whether it be you in real life, or in this case a character you role play - rather than asking you to 'create' a new character. So if you're already within a virtual world as a character, would an ARG not then be feasible, adding fictional elements to the (already fictional) virtual world?

Taking it a step further, would it be possible to run a 'Reality Game' from within an MMORPG? Bring elements of the real world (fictional to the virtual realm), and have people playing their characters there, remain in character while playing the virtual world's 'alternate' reality game? They'd be playing a virtual character who would have to believe that the 'alternate' reality is fictional, even though it's real life...

*head asplode*

[vpisteve]

OK, so I knew I'd gone through this before:

Pertinent excerpt (from the comments):

To me, there are basically three main components to that which we call ARGs (not meaning to open THIS can of worms again ): Story, Archaeology and Touching the Real World. These three things have consistently been present in every true ARG I've seen, and really, the earmark, the thing that's made ARGs unique has been this touch. Putting a little bit of magic in peoples' lives, albeit small, in the form of calling a real phone number or a character calling you, finding a CD at a deaddrop, getting out in the sunlight and looking for payphones, finding a hat in a parking lot. An ARG invades reality. If a game doesn't do that, if the reality of the game space is a virtual one, than I humbly submit that it's not really an ARG, it should be called something else.

ETA:
See, if you walk down a *real* city street and you find an *actual* magical glowing fruit and pick it up and it hums and you eat it and you see visions of an URL, that's pretty magic and cool. But if you're on the computer flying around with green hair, watching your friends create blue donuts that fall on you from the sky and you find this same fruit, click it and a web browser opens to a URL…..magic? Not so much.
That's the difference.

[Rekidk]

So, it might not be considered an ARG.

But Chaotic Fiction? Oh yes.

[Silent]

Yes.

Despite the fact that the MMORPG is in fact a virtual reality and a seperate world from ours, surely that seperate world could also have games that are not at all real like the ARGs in our "real world". It's an Alternate Reality from the current "Reality" of the game that is being held, it has puzzles, it has interaction, it's an ARG. As long as all you do is touch the Virtual World rather than the Real World in the ARG, and as long as the ARG is not a real in-game event, then you'll be fine.

Though you'd be better off calling it CF, just because.

[vpisteve]

Even though I'm loathe to quote Wikipedia:

An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform,...(emphasis mine).

Geez, the depths I'll sink to just to prove a point....

Anyway, to beat a dead horse, here: If a game takes place within the confines of a virtual space like SecondLife or Uru or World of Warcraft or whatever, it's not, I repeat NOT an Alternate Reality Game. Call it whatever you want: Adventure Game, Special Live Event, Virtual Scavenger Hunt, Interaction with Avatars, I don't really care. Just don't call it an ARG.

To use an even simpler, really basic example:
ARG=Calling a real phone number to hear a message using the physical phone in your hand.
NOTARG=Using your mouse to point and click on a 3d modeled phone on your screen, to "call" someone and hear a message.

Why is this so hard? Can we please stop perpetuating this myth?

[Caz]

 the golden rules

[vpisteve]

Re: the golden rules

[Caz]

 Re: Re: the golden rules

[yanka]

Re: Re: the golden rules

[jamesi]

Stop, you're both hilarious!

My two cents: ARGs need to be experienced. If you're one of those people who need to touch, smell and taste to truly feel the experience, then you're probably not going to be hanging out much in Second Life anyway. However, if you're happy as as a Blood Elf wandering the landscapes of Orgrimmar, then maybe an ARG inside a virtual reality works for you.

Aside: What I'm always amazed at is how 'real' the dedicated denizens of these various digital worlds believe them to be -- I've overheard conversations between people talking about last night's fun on Island X in SL like they were talking about hanging out at a friend's house. I've never been a part of something like that, so it's weird for me to even consider.

At the end of the day, though, I'd side with Steve in the way alternate reality gaming has been defined traditionally. All cross-media isn't ARG, and all ARGs aren't cross-media, but luckily most seem to fall under the umbrella of CF. Plus, if I don't side with Steve, he'll threaten me with pictures from the past, and my wife is sick of getting those in the mail.

[vpisteve]

OK, look: I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm really not. It's not like we're even talking the fine nuances of what makes an ARG or not. We're talking pretty broad foundational things that make ARGs unique from every other form of entertainment out there, not to mention what makes them so awesome.

I only belabor the point because everyone and their academic uncle seems to be calling anything even remotely cross-media an ARG lately, and it's simply not true. And that needs to be pointed out. And pointed out again.

Here's the best parallel I can come up with. Say someone is making a movie. They want some help, so they go onto the project greenlight or triggerstreet forums, or something like that. The've got a great movie in the works, with a great story, great writers, great sets, actors, costumes, director, the works! Everything that makes a great movie, except for one little thing: They won't be filming it, they'll just be performing it live on stage for an audience in a theater. But they're going to still call it a movie because, well, ya know, that's the hip new term that's turning heads.

Now, what they're doing has so many things in common with a film, and it can be an absolutely awesome story and a wonderful, compelling experience for the audience.

Only it's not a movie, no matter how much they say it is.

I love movies AND I love plays, and far be it from me to try to force an ARG into some pre-determined box. Break the rules! Try something new, for sure (as long as it's not designed in some haphazard way at your players' expense)!

-BUT-

Don't call a stage play a movie. That's not innovation, it's just, well, to put it nicely, lack of knowledge.

ETA: And yes, Jamesi. Don't make me pull out the old photos.