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[EntropyRising]

How to make ARGs profitable

[konamouse]

Always an interesting topic to discuss. There have been many threads already started in this forum (I found a couple on advertising just skimming through the subject titles, for example).

[Phaedra]

ARGs are in danger of dying out?

[OMG Kona, you passed me!]

[EntropyRising]

Yeah, I know, laying it on thick with the dying out part

Kona, you're point on ARGs that are a labor of love are well taken. I've seen a lot of that, and it's cool.

By the same token, if a game is a part time gig to someone, there is a lessened bit of commitment. We've seen our share of things that start up and dry out within a couple weeks or months. If the people running a game were doing it as their sole livelihood, I think we'd see better games lasting longer, without the fear of them expiring early.

As to why I think they are in danger. That's pretty easy. This is still new ground. As an advertising model, ARGs have so far not produced any good way of translating players to sales. Paid subscription games have failed so far.

NBC is run by guys in ties. If they don't think 360 is helping the ratings, they will kill it quick. Same for Perplex City. These are businesses, and they are in it to make money. If they don't see how ARGs can help that end, why will they fork over funding for it?

What I'm trying to do here, more than anything else, is give potential PMs a bit more incentive to start up that dream.

I hope that I'm not way off here. Just trying to think of ways to make this even better.

[Rekidk]

[Phaedra]

[Caz]

your asking the wrong question

[AtionSong]

I'm currently working on a new for-profit ARG that involves selling a product, like PXC and Cathy's book.

The most important thing you need to consider when you're having people pay to play the ARG, in the purchase of products or a subscription, is to convince them to pay up. In PXC, this is done by letting anybody play the ARG or look at cards, but needing to purchase the cards to get the codes to earn points.

This is a little harder for a subscription service to do, but it is still possible to give players a taste of what is to come, but they need to pay to actually "eat" it.

The way that I'm attempting to get people to buy the product is to actually start the game before the product can actually be purchased. It's kind of a sleazy thing to do but it goes kind of like this: Get players into the game, characters, story etc., then say "Oh, by the way, the plot from now on starts relating to this thing here that you need to buy!". Like PXC, the story can still be followed if you don't buy it, but it's just a lot more fun if you do.

By the way, sorry that I'm so cryptic about what the product is, but I'm just trying to protect my ideas for now.

Hope this helps at all.

[EntropyRising]

[konamouse]

Depends on the pleasure derived from being part of the hive, owning a piece of the puzzle, solving said puzzle, level of frustration if some purchasers never share their part of said puzzle (if all parts are definitely needed to reach a solve and progress the storyline).....

Like a drug.

Then some people have to drop out due to RL obligations; or some people drop out from dislike of the story; or some people drop out due to lack of funds.

It's another interesting concept. But at the core, it will only succeed if the game/story keeps people involved and wanting more. It's all about the story in this case (otherwise, you are just selling puzzle pieces and that loses it's appeal pretty quickly).

[Caz]

[EntropyRising]

Of course the story is important, the story is everything.

When talking about revenue, I was just taking that as a given. If your story is bunk, no one is going to show up in the first place, so talking about this would be moot.

I'm taking a stab at what you are thinking, if too much thought into emphisis is made on revenue, games will suffer. I know what you mean. I've seen that happen in other artistic ventures. George Lucas comes to mind.

There are a lot of threads out there that deal with making games cool. I read them, I like them, and they give a lot a great ideas. I wanted to start this thread to explore business angles. I think other threads cover the creative side well enough.

So, with that. Lets assume you have a small team out there with a great story arc. How do they feed themselves while they do it?

[notgordian]

This is probably something that's a given to some extent, but I think ARG teams especially would be well-served offering a free-model proof of concept game before testing their mettle with paid ventures.

Here's my logic--especially with ARGs, it's hard to tell whether you (as a player) are dealing with a reliable group of PMs. One that is capable of bringing quality stories and an enjoyable experience, as well as one that suits the individual's play style. It's extremely difficult to get reviews on current, running games because they change. A lot. So while the team is working out its kinks, put together a short, quality game or puzzle trail that demonstrates you've got what it takes. Something that really knocks everybody's socks off. All of a sudden, you have name recognition helping overcome the barrier to entry.

That's another point--when there are cash transactions going on, staying completely behind the curtain becomes a BIG disadvantage because there's no direct avenue to approach should problems arise. ARGs are based on trust--but that doesn't mean we're willing to send money to anonymous web entities--otherwise those 419 scams would work on our community.

And like any start-up (unless you can score some VC from a great business plan) you're going to be living on your savings for a while as you establish yourself. And yes, it is a big risk--especially since you'll want to appear as polished and professional in your creative output as possible.

These are just my opinions, but they're things to consider.

[konamouse]

So probably the only really good way to fund an ARG is like TV shows & movies: Advertising on the webpages or product placement.

Labfly chould have gotten some payback from Corona (Higgs' beverage of choice) or diet Coke, or Cheerios (all were mentioned in videos during Sammeeeees). Heck, Otis Elevators was the employer of Spoocheeeees around the world.

[EntropyRising]