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 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
Are ARG-ish Treasure Hunts Dilluting "Real" ARGs?
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jlr1001
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 		Are ARG-ish Treasure Hunts Dilluting "Real" ARGs?
Note: This thread is being picked up from a post I just wrote in the press section.

While games along this line are great--they seem to gain some amount of attention to themselves, which in turn brings attention to ARGs in general.

However, I'm beginning to wonder if there haven't been to many treasure hunts-cum-ARGs lately, and if people who don't follow the community closely are unwittingly confusing the two.

Case in point would be the definition of ARGs presented in the resent episode of Numb3rs... As some people have pointed out, the "ARG" presented in the episode didn't have a narrative, and without a narrative it shouldn't have rightly been called an ARG.

The problem is that it seems that most of these teasure hunts and other like contests are low on narrative. While I only started the Juan Ramon game--I quit once I found out it was meant for an EU audience--it never struck me as a cohesive narrative...

But it seems as if these story-lite games are coming out with startling frequency... Is this a problem, or am I sounding the alarm too early?



-jlr1001

PostPosted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:19 pm
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FLmutant
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 		I think many of us are already willing to concede the term ARG is "lost" to widespread public consciousness without a clear definition. It might be okay if it just becomes some fuzzy term for something that is gamelike that exists both online and in the real world (and I sense that is what the de facto public definition of it has become.) In Eldritch, I've been careful not to call it an ARG because I knew I wanted to push some boundries of expectations, so I ended up hedging it with stuff like:

EE wrote:
Many of the Sentries are also part of the Unfiction community, where other experiences like Eldritch Errors are discussed. Those experiences are sometimes called alternate reality games or chaotic fictions.


And you know I know better than that ... but if you have to write a couple of sentences for a fresh new audience with heads full of general knowledge, what do you call yourself? I think I've given myself permission again to come up with a new term for each project. "Eldritch Errors is an immersive horror series playing out in real time" describes the concept better than "Eldritch Errors is like an alternate reality game but without a fixed ending that makes you exist in the alternate reality under slightly more menacing terms and without quite so many puzzles." Even there, I had to resort to "like an" instead of "is an" because I have to acknowledge that other's might not share my exact opinion on what an ARG is. Even as it is, "are Sentries roleplaying themselves and is that even an ARG" has been a topic of discussion.

I remember when "web page" used to be wholly descriptive as well. Same with "viral". The ARG community is like eskimos taking about snow: we need alot more specificity to communicate than the general public needs. They can just call it all snow, maybe toss an adjective like "wet" or "powdery" in front of it. We want to know which way the wind was blowing and what the previous week's weather was like to label the snow properly.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:48 pm
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konamouse
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Joined: 02 Dec 2002
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FLmutant wrote:
The ARG community is like eskimos taking about snow: we need alot more specificity to communicate than the general public needs. They can just call it all snow, maybe toss an adjective like "wet" or "powdery" in front of it. We want to know which way the wind was blowing and what the previous week's weather was like to label the snow properly.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:40 pm
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Clementine
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 		Agreed --
I've been into ARGs ever since I first read about The Beast in Entertainment Weekly during my high school years. I even remember seeing the flashing red letters at the end of A.I.'s trailer and knowing there was something to be found. I just didn't have a computer of my own or the time to devote (school work was horrendous; ACTs, SATs, etc).

So, now that I hear more and more about these 'secret games' that companies are suddenly picking up on (we're a vast community on the internet, after all) I can't help but feel that the very essence of what an ARG stands for is being squeezed dry.

I don't feel the same amount of effort is being put into what's being pumped out. I enjoy what The Dark Knight's been doing to promote their movie, but there are so many other websites that don't give me that 'uppity, excited, can't wait to get home to see what this is all about' feeling. It's more like, "Ugh, another ARG." I'm waiting for that monumental ARG that pushes me into the rabbithole and forces me to find my way out or be forever lost.

For some reason, I feel ARGs are secret and sacred things (and should be kept as such). I enjoy that we considers ourselves 'the select few' that can even correctly define what an ARG is (or know what the letters stand for .. haha) as well as putting in the suitable amount of deskheadbashing during the pursuit.

I tried once, to explain to a friend what an ARG was, but she was confused and I didn't press it (she didn't ask anymore, either). My father simply made pirate sounds.

So, with more and more of these 'go find the puzzle pieces and win money' ARGs appearing, I feel the basic 'spirituality' of what it means to participate and converse with others is lost. Because then it's just a mad dash for cash. People want prizes, people want money, people want satisfaction.

I don't. I enjoy the process, the contemplation, the connection with those around me that have stumbled onto this 'lost art' of thinking outside of the box as well. I can't help but feel that ARGs are connected to a basic principlefound in The Crying of Lot 49 (W.A.S.T.E., anyone?) in that we're all searching for something and we don't necessarily know what it is -- but it's the chase that gives the whole thing (whatever it even is) an essential 'meaning'. We long for distractions from the outside world; jobs, children, spouses, school, etc. -- so who cares if it's real or not? (Or maybe, it is).

/end two cents
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:24 pm
Last edited by Clementine on Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:37 am; edited 1 time in total
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konamouse
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 		Don't give up hope. Good story ARGs with characters that draw you into their world are still alive & kicking. Check out Silverladder.
And 2008 is just around the corner. Labfly promised something this spring. And there are probably other vetted PMs out there cooking something up for the new year.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:12 am
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Clementine
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konamouse wrote:
Check out Silverladder.


Funny you should mention that! I've been watching it for some time now. Can't wait to see what happens next.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:37 am
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rasputin1072
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 		Like My First
I am still waiting for a game that draws me into the story like my first game, Urban hunt. The sites were amazingly realistic. One phone number on an IG site was answered by real operators. Several players said they nearly hung up out of sheer surprise at getting a living person.
However, the best part of all was that I was actually drawn in by the story. Players were discussing how they missed a character after he was killed off.
I am not saying there haven't been good games since, but none that pulled me in like that.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:41 am
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Im_RawnBurgundy
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Clementine wrote:
konamouse wrote:
Check out Silverladder.


Funny you should mention that! I've been watching it for some time now. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Rock On

PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:28 pm
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