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BubbleBoy
Decorated
Joined: 16 Jul 2007 Posts: 271 Location: United States
What makes an "ARG" "Entertaining"? Your input is needed ...or is this a question that has so many variables that it can not possibly be answered?
Maybe the question that I should be asking, and the one that I will now forward onto all of you to answer, is "What makes an "ARG" entertaining for you?"
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:03 pm
Rekidk
Entrenched
Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 992 Location: Indiana, USA
It's a personal preference.
Me? I like a good story, lovable characters, puzzles that involve collaboration, innovation, steady updates (eg. no unannounced massive events that make everyone who spent a day offline play catch-up for hours), and most importantly: non-implosion.
You could ask 100 different ARGers this question, though, and you'd get 100 different answers. Design what you think would be entertaining, and your game will find an audience.
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:55 pm
konamouse
Official uF Dietitian
Joined: 02 Dec 2002 Posts: 8010 Location: My own alternate reality
Re: What makes an "ARG" "Entertaining"? Your input is needed
BubbleBoy wrote:
...or is this a question that has so many variables that it can not possibly be answered?
Maybe the question that I should be asking, and the one that I will now forward onto all of you to answer, is "What makes an "ARG" entertaining for you?"
STORY
Characters (believeable, living-breathing souls, consistent in their responses and personalities)
Mystery or Suspense or Action (i.e. story again)
Some things to solve to get to the next section or contact someone or save something. Make us work a little bit (i.e. don't just hand us the information on a silver platter).
Community - we're working together, not in competition.
Sense of accomplishment - a goal we're working towards.
We have affect on the story/characters. We touch their lives. We're real as much as they are real.
Surprises - keeps us on our feet so we don't get bored.
Continuity - when it's not there, my disbelief is ruined and then everything else seems 'stupid'.
Humor - even in dire situations, there is always something funny that can happen - run with it.
Shiny things - make it look good, make it look appropriate (i.e. a 6 yo girl isn't going to have her own website, a big corporation isn't going to use blogspot, and a computer hacker isn't going to have crappy code on his site, etc).
That's just off the top of my head.
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 6:00 pm
vpisteve
Asshatministrator
Joined: 30 Sep 2002 Posts: 2441 Location: 1987
Dancing Robots.
And S@m.
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:06 pm
Shutaro
Decorated
Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 171 Location: Northren California
vpisteve wrote:
Dancing Robots.
I prefer breakdancing Robots.
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Watching: Eldrich Errors, Tom Tooman
"Call immdeiately. Time is running out. We both need to do something monstrous before we die."
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:38 pm
catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee
Joined: 25 Sep 2002 Posts: 4109 Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Re: What makes an "ARG" "Entertaining"? Your input is needed
BubbleBoy wrote:
...or is this a question that has so many variables that it can not possibly be answered?
It's a bit like asking, "What makes a movie entertaining?" With the ever-evolving definition of "ARG", it's easier to think of it as a category of entertainment. What makes a book entertaining? There are so many different kinds of movies and books, and there are many different kinds of ARGs. Some people like short stories, others enjoy epic novels; some people like art house indy flicks, others hold out for the summer blockbuster Hollywood extravaganza. So one variable in your question is the structure, the format, nevermind the content which is yet another variable.
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:47 pm
Mikeyj
Unfictologist
Joined: 18 Oct 2004 Posts: 1847 Location: London
I like clicks. Where suddenly you realise "so that's how it works!" or "wow, who'd have thought it?" or "oh my God I thought it was just an e-mail conversation, but bits of it are pasted on the postbox at the end of my road". I also like humour. Po-faced kidnappings should be broken up with a comedy double-act (think Nicely-nicely and Benny, or the Chuckle Brothers). Has there been a satirical ARG yet?
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:26 am
konamouse
Official uF Dietitian
Joined: 02 Dec 2002 Posts: 8010 Location: My own alternate reality
Mikeyj wrote:
Has there been a satirical ARG yet?
"MeiGeist" poked fun at ARGs from the past. And "Seen Steve" was all about humor.
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r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:49 am
Schrijvertje
Decorated
Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 205 Location: Belgium
When once in a while you can't help but wonder, "Hey, maybe this IS real after all ..."
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:08 am
Shutaro
Decorated
Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 171 Location: Northren California
Schrijvertje wrote:
When once in a while you can't help but wonder, "Hey, maybe this IS real after all ..."
I'll second this. I definitely tend toward games that are more... Immersive. It's not that it has to be uber-realistic, or anything like that... But nothing's better than a scary ARG that has you looking over your shoulder as you walk out to your car late in the evening.
I likes my ARGs like I likes my movies... Those Japanese horror films with the very involved and/or spooky storylines that have all sorts of twists and turns that pull you in and finally whack you over the head with a WTF ending (ghost/monster is about to pounce on protagonist -> inexplicable time-travel -> monster/hero have love scene -> star-wipe -> "stomp"-style musical number -> fade to black; all must happen in the last 5 minutes of the movie). Chakushin ari is a good example of this.
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Playing: Nothing
Watching: Eldrich Errors, Tom Tooman
"Call immdeiately. Time is running out. We both need to do something monstrous before we die."
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:57 am
promethean
Greenhorn
Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 8 Location: glasgow, uk
Yeah, it's a lot like asking someone 'what makes good TV', so think of it like any fiction, basically anything that's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Some unique points though:
It has to be pretty if you want me to watch a monitor for hours at an end.
Plotwise, it doesn't need to be labyrinthine and metaphorical like Lost or Heroes, in fact personally I don't like those at all. You miss one email or puzzle and *thwumph* you're confused. I like an ARG where you can miss an episode or two and still be on board.
Interactivity has been done by the older and wiser people above me, but it's worth saying again: It's what makes an ARG different, so it has to be there. Chats, emails, blogs, RL events, everything is good and recommended in my eyes. I like an ARG to resemble a hole where the deeper you go, the wider it gets. Of course it has a bottom, but gazing down from the brim I want to think "what if it doesn't?".
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:19 am
surfzoned
Decorated
Joined: 30 Jun 2007 Posts: 237 Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple
Fun I'm seconding Konamouse on his list. I think he hit all the main points.. Add a dash of chaos and some personal flavor and you have a hit ARG.
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:08 pm
konamouse
Official uF Dietitian
Joined: 02 Dec 2002 Posts: 8010 Location: My own alternate reality
Re: Fun
surfzoned wrote:
I'm seconding Konamouse on his list. I think he hit all the main points.. Add a dash of chaos and some personal flavor and you have a hit ARG.
Guess you haven't been here very long. Or haven't listened to the ARGNetcasts .....
<---- is a "she".
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'squeek'
r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:33 pm
Jas0n
Decorated
Joined: 19 Aug 2006 Posts: 244
Re: Fun
konamouse wrote:
Guess you haven't been here very long. Or haven't listened to the ARGNetcasts .....
<---- is a "she".
REALLY!??! Oh em Gee ...
btw - thanks for the thread to the OP - some things here worthy for PMs to strongly consider while developing a game
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Most recent game developed: Ny Takma
We are that which the game makes of us
Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:19 pm
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