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 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
[META] Jane McG cheering section and META discussion space
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rose
...and then Magic happens


Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 4117

 		[META] Jane McG cheering section and META discussion space
I was in #unfiction tonight when Jane McGonigal joined and mentioned her schedule for finishing her dissertation for her PhD about, basically, us. The schedule is a grueling pace of two pages a day with no days off until the end of May.

I had two ideas:

1. Let us make a cheering section to encourage her if she gets tired or discouraged or just bored with the whole thing... or just because supporting each other is what we do around here.

2. I thought of creating a "safe" META space for her that she could post to should she need or want to discuss things here at unfiction. Because she is also a well-known PuppetMaster, I thought it would be great if we made a little place she could always post and not worry about us considering it "in-game" or "OOG" or even part of any game. Just a space, in addition to chat, she could hang out and talk things out if she needed to do so.

So, I made this thread for her and for us.

Go JANE Go!!
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I love this site for being free, in every sense of the word~Spacebass

Mankind was my business, the common good was my business.~ Dickens

PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:12 pm
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AmberJoy
Veteran

Joined: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 140
Location: SW Ontario

 		Cool

PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:19 am
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misuba
Boot


Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 29

 		Excellent idea Rose. All dissertations need cheering sections, and if it was ever appropriate for one to have one for real, this is the one.
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Make stuff up - http://www.fictionsuit.com/
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:51 am
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iworkhere
Boot

Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 36
Location: atlanta, ga

 		cool idea!
and i'll second the motion...

Go JANE Go!!

PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:59 pm
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Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 4033
Location: Here, obviously

 		You can do it Jane! Smile

(Does she know this is here? Because if that's her schedule, I doubt she'll have time to be idly browsing Unfiction.)
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:53 pm
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FLmutant
Decorated


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 244
Location: Orlando, FL

 		Jane, may your writing period bring you large quantities of your favorite caffiene drink prepared just the way you would like it.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:37 am
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janemcg
Boot


Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 63
Location: Berkeley, CA

 		sweet
hey, AmberJoy pointed me this way. so cool. Smile

I have totally NOT finished writing my 2 pages today yet! Well, it's only 11:06 PM PST... there's still time. Smile

I would love to be able to use this space to post some general questions occasionally, which anyone could respond to here, or via PM or email.

For instance...

Something ARGers do a lot of: Figuring out if something or someone is in-game, or out-of-game. This happens during games, and also happens when people are looking for new games (Is this an ARG or not?).

My question: Have you ever encountered a really interesting out-of-game thing or person, while looking for a game, or for in-game stuff? Did you have a positive, memorable interaction with that thing or person, that you might not have had if you weren't looking for or trying to play a game? (Example: during Art of the Heist, Kiyash and I mistook a normal person for a "plant" and there is quite a fun story attached, even though he turned out not to really be in the game.) Any such stories would be fascinating to me. Smile

My email is anything-you-want at avantgame dot com... or post here, or PM. Smile Cool.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:15 am
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janemcg
Boot


Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 63
Location: Berkeley, CA

 		sweet
ack, it posted twice. ignore. Smile

PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:15 am
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Varin
I Have No Life


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 2456
Location: South of where I used to be
Quote:
Have you ever encountered a really interesting out-of-game thing or person, while looking for a game, or for in-game stuff?


Actually, this reminds me of something that happened this summer. When we first moved here, my husband and I drove around exploring our new town and found a house with morse code painted all over it. Now, I wasn't looking for anything ingame to a particular game, but after playing a few ARGs I've noticed myself becoming more aware of my surroundings like I'm always looking for a trailhead or something. I took some pictures and translated the morse and wrote about it on my website (here's the full story if you're interested).

Exactly ten days later I received an email titled "Morse code house *warning*" from a man who claimed to be a member of a local group called Team Ubermensch. He said that his team was dedicated to researching and contacting the man who lived at the morse code house. He didn't really explain what the "warning" part was supposed to mean, but it still managed to freak me out.

It so clearly highlighted for me the difference between saying I want realism and TINAG in an ARG and really wanting it. If I had seen a little sign on the mailbox that said "created by 4orty2wo Entertainment", I would have emailed Team Ubermensch back and jumped in feet first.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:47 am
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toenolla
Boot


Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 51

 		O yes!
In response to Jane's question,

Tin Man Moves was one of those things. We were so sure it was a new ARG (and local, no less!). It had all the trappings, with the metaphoric titling and a nice big input box. It turned out to be a thing all it's own, but I and a few others are still "playing" - posting our insights and reading others'. It was probably the guise of the game that encouraged people to submit their deep thoughts with the level of trust they put into it. I know it was for me.

Some of us were really signalling, posting insights "in character" about the nature of reality and trying to get the Tin Man to drop a hint about the game. We were looking for a secret handshake - a ubiquitous TINAG - where there wasn't one. Imagine if two ARGers had been paired up in the system - then we would really have thought we were onto something!

Hope that helps. Jane, you go turn Academia on its head. Smile

-------------------------------

My latest Insight was, "We often believe the message is complete, when in fact it is"

PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:57 am
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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial

 		Re: sweet
janemcg wrote:


For instance...

Something ARGers do a lot of: Figuring out if something or someone is in-game, or out-of-game. This happens during games, and also happens when people are looking for new games (Is this an ARG or not?).
.


I know that when the Travelocity started its "Where is my Gnome?" Traveling gnove campaign, ther was a lot of speculation here about whether it was a trailhead or not It was an interesting way they launched it through small ads in newspapers. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't lead to an ARG. It would have been a cool launch for it.
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Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead


PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:49 am
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missphinx
Unfettered

Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 395

 		Re: sweet
This is very exciting, speaking as one of the members of your large captive audience. May all your words flow beautifully like water in a sparkling spring stream. Etc. Etc. Very Happy

janemcg wrote:
My question: Have you ever encountered a really interesting out-of-game thing or person, while looking for a game, or for in-game stuff? Did you have a positive, memorable interaction with that thing or person, that you might not have had if you weren't looking for or trying to play a game?

I've been thinking about this. Because I would say that I get at least as much out of the out-of-game interaction and experience as anything specifically in game. The community, the chance to learn something, the excuse to go looking for weird and/or interesting stuff that I would not otherwise come across. There's the precious gem-encrusted treasure that the game itself, but then there's the intricate box that holds the treasure. And then there's the room the box is in. I admire the treasure, but I *love* the room. Does that make sense?

Phaedra might have told you this one. When she was here, which happened to be LCP Chicago week, a bunch of us met at Spat's. When we walked out of Spat's on the way to dinner, someone looked down, and .... AL CAPONE was spraypainted on the sidewalk right outside the door. Goosebump time. But that wasn't all. Later in a bookstore, out of the blue the checkout clerk started talking about... AL CAPONE's secret house or somesuch. (where's that bug-eye smiley - there you go - Shocked ). Were we playing the game or was Someone playing the game on us? (add Twilight Zone theme) Smile

PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 5:21 pm
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Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 4033
Location: Here, obviously

 		Re: sweet
missphinx wrote:
Phaedra might have told you this one. When she was here, which happened to be LCP Chicago week, a bunch of us met at Spat's. When we walked out of Spat's on the way to dinner, someone looked down, and .... AL CAPONE was spraypainted on the sidewalk right outside the door. Goosebump time. But that wasn't all. Later in a bookstore, out of the blue the checkout clerk started talking about... AL CAPONE's secret house or somesuch. (where's that bug-eye smiley - there you go - Shocked ). Were we playing the game or was Someone playing the game on us? (add Twilight Zone theme) Smile


That was so freaky.

The clerk just burst out with all this stuff about Al Capone and his secret house on this island in Illinois...it was all I could do not to let my mouth hang open.

Of course, seeing AL CAPONE spraypainted outside Spats was a little unsettling, too.

Also freaky -- although not so ARG-related -- was when I was walking back to the house of the friend I was staying with. She lives in a primarily Hispanic area (pointing this out because Phaedra is not exactly a common Hispanic name). For further context, I pretty much only use the name Phaedra for my ARG stuff.

On the sidewalk a few houses from hers, in yellow paint, was "Phaedra." And a heart.

Shocked Silly
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World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind

PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:48 pm
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EGo
Unfettered


Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Posts: 545
Location: Wasting time in east New Jersey

 		Re: sweet
Phaedra wrote:
On the sidewalk a few houses from hers, in yellow paint, was "Phaedra." And a heart.


... Don't pay any attention to that rustling noise outside.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:39 pm
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GuyP
Unfettered


Joined: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 584
Location: London, UK

 		/me breaks out the pom-poms.

YOU CANT STOP IT
DONT TRY TO FIGHT IT
DISS!
ERR!
TAY!
SHUN!

Next post, I'm doing the splits. Actually, can one book an ambulance in advance for that sort of thing? Smile

PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:26 am
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