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 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
Sites: Links between in & out of game sites
Moderators: imbri, ndemeter
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bill
Unfettered


Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 614
Location: Tampa
It's certainly an interesting dilemma. Lockjaw's icon could have potentially been hijacked by an unscrupulous fan which might spoil the game for some players.

whois isn't a reliable indicator unless the players clearly understand what it represents. And whois records can be fabricated as well.

Further, some games may choose to enhance their immersion level by fostering links into and out of real sites.

The real trick is finding a mechanism that identifies in-game sites without jeopardizing the immersion factor. One such mechanism could be a Weissbot equivalent that confirms information for players. For instance, if a player finds a site, they can go to the in-game bot and ask about the site. If the bot has no knowledge, the site isn't part of the game. The programmers can vary the responses to account for sites found prematurely, known trolls, and even to correct misinformation in an effort to steer the game.

I'm sure other methods can be implemented including email, official trails, or moles in the player group with insider info. Regardless, each PM will have to consider the impact of potential links, particularly if public sites are actually sources of relevant information.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2002 10:25 am
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FrankenPaula
Boot

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 15

 		It is an interesting issue. Has anybody been following the bmw films game? That game uses a lot of what I call In-Game-Out-Of-Game (IGOOG) sites. Go to the starbucks.com site, do a search for "envy" and you'll get a type of tea by that name that has a :k: link at the bottom of it. That link leads to an in-game page. The rest of the starbucks page is obviously out of game, we know that starbucks is a real company, and yet they have a link that's related to the game. There are many other sites like that one for smaller, lesser known companies that are used in the game, and it can be difficult to distinguish which ones are in-game and which ones are not. I wouldn't be suprised if some of them are getting a lot of strange emails and phone calls from eager players.

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2002 10:45 am
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bill
Unfettered


Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 614
Location: Tampa
FrankenPaula wrote:
It is an interesting issue. Has anybody been following the bmw films game? That game uses a lot of what I call In-Game-Out-Of-Game (IGOOG) sites. Go to the starbucks.com site, do a search for "envy" and you'll get a type of tea by that name that has a :k: link at the bottom of it. That link leads to an in-game page. The rest of the starbucks page is obviously out of game, we know that starbucks is a real company, and yet they have a link that's related to the game.


An interesting and subtle form of viral marketing that. The Alias Online Adventure uses a similar mechanism where in-game characters are posting clues in various online message boards. Since day 1, we've had trolls posting various malodorous crap intended to mislead and misdirect players. Alias also had to post new messages recently because the old ones scrolled off the boards. It seems we are learning what doesn't work there. Rolling Eyes
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2002 10:57 am
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Wolf
Decorated


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 292
wb wrote:
Lockjaw's icon could have potentially been hijacked by an unscrupulous fan which might spoil the game for some players.


Yeah, that's true. Depending on the site we would have had to either let it go and write it in somehow, a la the GenTel Janitor's journal (depending on the content) or make it clear through the in-game sites somehow that it wasn't part of the game proper. Either way, I think we would have been able to pull it off.

--Wolf (who wondered if replacing the NS tag line "Your web. Only better." with "Your web. Simply divine." on the WiredSouls.org page was a mistake...turns out it wasn't)

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2002 11:50 am
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jamesi
Sentient Being


Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 2195
Location: Canadia

 		copyright whatnow?
wb wrote:
It's certainly an interesting dilemma. Lockjaw's icon could have potentially been hijacked by an unscrupulous fan which might spoil the game for some players.


no one ever said i couldn't use the net:sight logo on guysguise... i am shocked that anyone would consider me unscrupulous Laughing

PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2002 7:42 pm
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krystyn
I Never Tire of My Own Voice


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Is not Chicago

 		I think at one point I had said something about making truly custom net:sight logos for each in-game site, and perhaps encouraging fan sites, etc. to grab a generic one for their own use.

We talked about that a bit, but it never became a problem. It didn't seem to be insurmountable.

PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 7:11 pm
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Guest
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FrankenPaula wrote:
It is an interesting issue. Has anybody been following the bmw films game? That game uses a lot of what I call In-Game-Out-Of-Game (IGOOG) sites. Go to the starbucks.com site, do a search for "envy" and you'll get a type of tea by that name that has a :k: link at the bottom of it. That link leads to an in-game page.


Looks interesting...where do I start?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2002 10:09 pm
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