unforum

[HaxanMike]

[Puppy_Zwolle]

If I may. (and if not I do it anyway)

Linear and non-linear have nothing to do with preconceived plots and expected twists. Even if a plot has more then one possible ending (or a not even written one) and twists to it that may throw the entire plot, that does not make it non-linear.

Linear in this context is the line the story follows. This line usually is timebased. Events and actions lead to the next event and action. What that action is will alter the outcome but not the 'linearity' of the story because that is the line it follows.

Arg is a story that starts at the beginning and at the end it stops... if all goes well. That is linear. What ever happens in between can be placed in/on that line.

Non-linear stories are harder to define. Much harder as they become almost abstract. We live in a linear universe and non-linear stuff is not something we can get our heads around easy because we always place this in our linear frame of mind.

I better put this in some examples instead of trying to define it.

An ARG that follows a unique storyline for every player in the game could be called non-linear (though for every individual player it would be linear)

Introducing timetravel whereby players change preciously established 'events and facts' could be seen as non-linear (though for the player this would make perfect linear sense)

An Arg that start a new timeline for every player, even weeks apart can be called non-linear. But again for every individual player it is linear.f.i.:BBC's "Jamie Kane"

Ok you can start burning me down now.
Feeling highly combustable.

PS: Almost forgot my point.
The only one noticing non-linearity in an ARG (unless it is actually in the story) is the PM. The story itself can (in my opinion) never be non-linear.

OK, back to the flame.

[Ethernull]

My Definition of Linear vs. non linear is a bit different. For me, Linear is when one event leads to the next. A leads to B, B leads to C etc. Even if they arent in the correct Temporal Order; A leads to C, C leads to D, D leads to F, F leads to B etc. That would still be Linear for me.

Non Linear would be when events don't lead from one to the next, but instead each is discovered or encountered without concern or regard of what may have been already discovered. C is discovered. Without any concern for C, A is discovered.

I should clarify that I am describing the experience of the story as it unfolds, not the resulting artifact that is pieced together afterwords. How the story is encountered, not the story itself.

So in my definition, Benjamin Stove was a linear experience, and EDOC Laundry is not.

For me, the movie Memento was linear, because each scene relied on the previous scene being witnessed already for the experience to unfold. By my definition, all movies and books are linear because they build upon and rely upon the fixed sequence of events, in a particular order, even if that order is not chronological. The Blair Witch website was non-Linear for me because I could explore the media in no particular order, and one piece of media did not naturally lead me to the next. My actual experience of the site differed psychologically from other people that viewed it in a different order. My emotional rollercoaster had the ups and down in a different order.

For me, the only way a story itself could be non linear is if there is actually no temporal relation at all. Like a collection of loose leaf, undated letters or journal entries, where non of them made any reference to material from other entries. THey could be shuffled around and read, and different conclusions would be drawn. And the story could never be written from start to finish because it doesn't exist from start to finish. It may exist simultaneously in the same instant in the minds of a hundred different people. We do know, because there is no reference to time or order, or any contingency on other material.

So, for me, a Movie can never have a non-linear experience, but it can have a non-linear story.

The same goes for a book.

A ARG, and other areas where we, as the viewers, can choose through purpose or chance what order to experience the story in, can be a non-linear experience, and can also be a non-linear story. But an ARG where we can only experience the material in a certain order, whether it was planned that way in the beginning or not is a linear experience. If the resulting story can be fir to a timeline or logical sequence of related events, then it is linear as well.

Just how I look at it.

[Puppy_Zwolle]

I did not experience Laundry so don't know what that was..... But except that we use words a bit different we look at it in the same way.

Player view: The story encountered is the story. It is not the same as the PM has in mind so for him it would be non-linear.

Condenced my point was; For a player an ARG will almost always be linear. For a PM it is almost always non-linear. Does that make the ARG linear or non-linear?