unforum

[rarg]

A Proposal: The Roleplay ARG

[Delusional]

Well I don't know about other people but for me, when ever I get seriously into a game I am playing someone else. That is, as long as there is the interaction to provide the opportunity.

It does sound to me like you have bigger ideas for the role playing part though. Anyways sounds interesting . But what does this mean?

"ie the GM wouldn't need to keep up with how big it gets"

I assume "GM" is similar to the "PM", so how would that work with creator not knowing what's going on in his/her own story?

How far along in production are you?


ps. two clichés don't make a right.

[rarg]

Many thanks for your reply, which I appreciate very much.

[Silent|away]

Thing is, I already do that in the Deus City ARG. If I was really roleplaying as myself, I would just say, "eh, who cares about changing the future? I wanna watch some TV." or call the cops or something equally silly. Already, in that ARG, my character have taken positions and did morally questionable deeds that I would never support IRL. That's roleplaying.

And that's the main thing, it's easy to roleplay in a traditional ARG. I never got the whole "you must play as yourself", so I never had played as myself. And I think others has also decided not to play as themselves either, but it's likely a minority position.

I am in full support of this project, but one problem is that people are essentially egoistic. Many people want to play as themselves, and don't want to play as some other character made up. I can admit that playing as "me" saves on profile memorization, since I would know what I like rather than Bob of Bosville. I like roleplaying, but I'm worried if other people want to as well. Plus, by assigning people "character sheets", you broke the fourth wall.

I am busy in schoolwork, and creating 2 ARGs, but rarg, I'm interested in playing.

[Caz]

I like the idea, in fact i working on some thing like it.

The thing i ran into is that

1. you have to make a fourth wall so you can't call your self an true ARG any more. so i given up the ghost and call it a T.W.

2. Players are random they will do what ever they fell like on the day. so to try and force then in to playing in groups will not work, they shire the info you only what one group to have and just will not do what you what them to if they don't believe in it. best thing to do is work the game for lone wolf players and if they team up that's good and if not it done not matter.

[FLmutant]

Just to tease your idea out a little bit, are you thinking your game is equivalent of "roleplaying required" or "roleplaying encouraged" or "roleplaying tolerated"? Do you imagine that will be more difficult if the details of the world they should roleplay aren't explicit from the beginning (which is typical of ARGs -- you learn the nature of that universe in bits and pieces, not with a big guidebook)?

Caz, I'm also not sure I buy the fourth-wall definition. There's always a fourth wall: Unfiction. Sometimes, I've even had players use the fourth wall as a tool: in Stove there was a new player (hi, Tipsila) that the ARG community didn't know. That new player was such a rich information source that some of the other players thought for sure it must be the alias of a PM "pretending to be a player." Knowing that no PM would continue that over here in UF, they started a big campaign to get Tipsila to register over here ... something Tipsila resisted doing for days, much to our amusement (because some thought that was evidence that supported it was a PM alias.) The players not only KNEW there was still a fourth wall, no matter how immersive we might try to make it, but they know how to USE that wall as a tool to force informatin out of the PMs. By the end of Stove, the community was voting Tipsila among the MVPs of the game, so all is well that ends well.

Sometimes we use it as a tool, too, so I shouldn't complain -- breaking the fourth-wall that everyone had forgotten was even there was part of the fun of HitsHerMark being a victim of the goons near the finale of Heist (player become character ... how is that possible if there is no fourth wall separating the two?)

So the fourth wall is in itself a game element, whether you acknowledge it or not, right? As long as UF is interested in it and you don't violate the UF TOS, then the fourth wall is right about at the point someone types ".com" at the end of "www.unforms" and hits enter Or as Jane would describe it, part of the "gaming" of the G of an ARG is playing with that boundry of the edge of the game itself, not just moving it to a different place than it normally is.

[Caz]

What I was trying to say about the fourth wall is that if you register on the trial head web site and it tells you a 3rd level mage and you start throwing fire ball in character. Then there a whopping big wall there.

if when you register and pick a name like MadHater67 and then just post under that name you sound a little mad, your not break any rule of the real world but at the same time its role playing. So you and others can't see the wall as must.

[Star Spider]

RolePlaying

[catherwood-offline]

Re: RolePlaying

[Star Spider]

Catherwood - I totally agree with you and that is why I was confused by the TINAG idea as a whole. I was was only referring to the way I have heard TINAG being described in other discussions here and was trying to get a better idea of what that meant. But as far as I can understand it, the idea in and of it self only makes sense in the context of a totally immersive structure in which people are unclear what is game and what is not - which people don't do anyway because it is dangerous and can have serious repurcussions. So really TINAG is a non-issue - thanks for clarifying!

[thebruce]

Re: RolePlaying

[Star Spider]

For sure thebruce!
I totally agree with you - however that still does not take away from the fact that IT IS A GAME! No matter what - we know we are not detectives so no matter how 'realistic' the crime scene and the patterns are we are meant to follow - we can only follow them (and not a trained dectective for example) because we are playing a game. If there was some indication somewhere along the line that it was not a game then I would hope someone would call the police!!! (In the case of a crime related ARG). So as far as I can see it TINAG is simply a metaphor for games that are trying to make their play as realistic as possible. But no matter what it is still a game andd it is still role playing

[rose]

[FLmutant]

[Star Spider]

I totally agree FLmutant!

Games are a powerful environments through which to explore new emotions and a great way to have new experiences that you might not get in real life! I know when I play D & D I am fully invested - I feel the pain - the joy and everything like it was happening - I cry when a friend dies and I feel rage when I need to fight! My comments here have nothing to do with the emotional reality of the situations - the emotional and mental investment of the players or anything to do with that. I find games and gaming environments fascinating extensions of human mind space and for that reason I consider them just as real as the next manufactured space that exists within our minds (or sometimes in reality). My point is not aimed to take away from the sincereity of the ARG experience in anyway - but merely to suggest my confusion at the term 'This is Not a Game'. I guess I feel like it is a sort of dishonest expression of the art of gaming. It is also paridoxical - how can an Alternate Reality GAME be applied to TINAG?

I think Caroline said it very well:

"In environments like ARGs or LARPs, people can safely explore their emotions, and if it becomes too overhelming, they can shelve it, simple as that."

They are games - wonderful games with (sometimes) immersive environments in which to express REAL emotions and feelings. But once again - still a game. So still I am still confused about the TINAG term. Unless it is merely a reflection of the fact that the emotional states that can be created within ARG's are 'realistic'. But in my opinion the same can be said of other RPG's and other RPG's do not hold the TINAG idea.

Thanks for sharing though guys - trying to figure it all out

Note: Rose - this is the second time you have posted to me directly and for the second time I feel as though you are seeing something in my posts that you do not like. I am totally open to communication about it if you have a problem and I would like to resolve it! If you are interested in sharing your thoughts on TINAG I would love to hear them - I am just trying to understand it...