unforum

[vpisteve]

I'm telling ya, we've been using Participatory Entertainment Experiences around here....

[ariock]

full confession:

I actually thought for a brief moment that IP WAS FLMutant. I know he's good at stirring things up.

Operative word being "good." That's when I realized it couldn't be him.

[natas]

[imbri]

Re: Why ARG?

[FLmutant]

Wow, didn't mean to throw so much fuel on this, but I'm impressed by the level cunning and discordianship you think I have. Let me try to clarify my thoughts on this ... through video. In the following example, I've chosen to depict the Unfiction community as a deer, the media as a rabbit, and myself as a skunk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54sZ8TFFAmY

Genre labels are always developed by fans, not artists. If you ask any band to describe themselves, they'll answer with a string of hyphenated comparisons. Eventually, though, the fans will come up with their own label, and that almost always adheres more firmly ... but is of a temporary nature.

Krystyn, I don't think there's such a thing as a "wrong term". You can still call me Flower if you want to.

[rose]

Isn't it possible to use different terms for different audiences? I mean if advertisers and marketers recoil at the word "game" because they have a preconceived idea of what a "game" is, then pitch ideas to them as experiences - I don't have a problem with people using other terms to sell the genre to people who aren't players or are unfamiliar with it.

I like the inclusion of the word game because the word implies there are players. My concern is that the role of the players in the game and the story will gradually become discounted. The ARG SIG group not allowing players initially, just reinforced my concern that developers will not appreciate or understand the role players play in the games and in continuing and promoting the genre. ARG players aren't just eyeballs on a page or "obsessives". The players and the player community bring the game to life, make it larger than it would have otherwise been and take it with them in the world beyond the game.

I think that ARG will stick around for a while anyway, after all, it is on wikipedia already.

Experiences sounds like something people due on cruises - like that horrible commercial of the family seeking a smile from their preteen daughter. But that's just my opinion.

And Brian, you're the best. I would never consider you a skunk.

[krystyn]

[Gupfee]

[FLmutant]

[rose]

I just found it odd that players were excluded from the IGDA SIG as IGDA allows pretty much anyone to be a member. No one in the NYC IGDA chapter has a problem with me (or anyone else) as a player organizing and participating in talks on ARGs, posting to the forums about ARGs, etc. It didn't make sense to me that the SIG would want to exclude people.

I'm sure the SIG is very useful and does lots of good things! Thanks for posting the link to the archives so that even people who aren't active participants can read what's going on.

And I know we are way off topic, so I'll stop now. If needed, I suppose we could start a topic about the IGDA SIG.