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[Geppetto]

How to Name an ARG

[imbri]

How attached to the name are you? I mean, is it important that the players call the game exactly what you want them to call it? If so, um, there's never that guarantee, but if you have a big press push before the game goes live, players will generally (but not always) use the official name included in the various releases and articles and whatnots. Trailhead websites can help with this as well - if the name of the game is the title of the site or name of the domain, chances are fairly good that players will get close to calling it that (though it may be shortened).

If it's only kind of important, then using what you want it to be named in a primary manner in the trailhead or initial rabbit holes will help. For example, if you want people to call your game Fuzzy Bunny, then using a big image and subtitling it Fuzzy Bunny might get the players attention. This may be more effective if you incorporate some interactivity around the Fuzzy Bunny - perhaps create a call to action around it or use it in a puzzle of some sort.

But, really, the name is pretty much up to the players. They'll latch on to something and it'll probably stick for the run. And it's not unheard of for different forums & communities to call the same game different names - it's just what struck the player who wrote the initial post.

Good luck! You're in for a ride

[Geppetto]

Well, ultimately, it won't end our world if they name it something else entirely. If nothing else, we can always discuss the name with the players after the game has ended, in a post-game meta-discussion of some sort. We'd like for them to eventually know its name, if nothing else.

[Nighthawk]

Who says you have to name it? I only revealed my intended name to "BoL/SiD" after it was over! And nobody calls it "Shadowwatch" no matter how hard I try...

Whether the name comes before or after depends on whether you market it or not. If you don't market it, and simply launch a game, the premise of TINAG, you being behind the curtain, etc... doesn't give you an easy way to come up with the name yourself. In those cases, the players do their best.

If you start generating press for it, be it through a news release or through commentary on it, you yourself have to refer to it somehow, and then the name you choose may be accepted.

My upcoming game has a name right out of the gate, but it'll be staring you in the face all the time anyway, so...

[imbri]

[notgordian]

As someone who has posted his share of trailheads to the forums, the name used by the first person to post about a game is generally the name that sticks. Sometimes, that isn't the case: for instance, Eldritch Errors was initially referred to as "B Seeing U", based on a keyword players spent hours scouring Craigslist for, and Blood Copy (the True Blood ARG) was initially referred to as Find the Red Seal, after the iconic TB seal on the letters mailed to bloggers.

The short answer is that your trailhead should have at least one hook to give players some context for the game. If the only unique bit of information/contact you provide is the character's name, a domain name, or an organization, that's probably what you're going to see as the name. There's a decent amount of inertia involved in changing names after they're posted because that makes it harder for players to quickly find the discussion thread.

Therefore, the advice on how to guide players towards coming up with a cool name for the project (either one you designate or one derived by the community) is to craft a strong hook in the first piece of information players will receive. This should come as no surprise, since an element of good game design in general is to create a strong hook.

Think of your trailhead as the cover to a book. As people go browsing around in the library, they're going to be overwhelmed with choice. What's the first thing that they're going to see? The cover (or in this case, the forum topic / description and maybe the trailhead.) There are dozens of ways to make your cover stand out. If you're a prominent author, name recognition will do it. Bright flashy colors or a genre-specific cover could do the same. But there needs to be something to make it stand out, or else it'll rot on the shelves.

Also: 1000th post! Glad it was a relatively substantive one.

[vpisteve]

A lot of games just end up being called the name of the first website players find. Metacortechs, Why So Serious, This is My Milwaukee, to name a few...either by design or by accident.

[Geppetto]

I think, to a certain degree, I'm curious enough about what the players will come up with to just go with it. I may try to plant references in the initial trail-heads -- I'll have to consult with the rest of the team.

Of course, I suppose to a certain extent, this also hinges on questions related to the most suitable way to plant a trail head for an ARG like ours...

Thank you all for your comments and advice so far!

-Geppetto

[krystyn]

The Haunted Apiary, Let Op! is still one of my very favorite user-created game names evar.

It makes me giggle.