unforum

[operativegrey]

ARG HeadF*ck

[redct]

I think you were looking for Year Zero, which has long since ended.

[Euchre]

Isn't what you want basically what all ARGs are ideally supposed to be?

You could've had an experience like that - if you'd involved yourself deeply in the campaigns for the 2008 elections.

[operativegrey]

[Rekidk]

Most 'good' ARGs don't make you confuse the game with reality. Becoming temporarily immersed in the game is okay--not being able to tell the game from reality is just frustrating.

I played a game over a year ago--the Wyoming Incident--and it never actually stated that it was a game. We stumbled across the trailhead and it led us backwards to a forum that formerly belonged to a group of serial killers.

Yes, part of this was thrilling and exciting. But part of it was terrifying--I never felt entirely sure that it was just a game.

(I know I didn't offer much help, just thought I'd share this little anecdote.)

[operativegrey]

[Agent Lex]

[operativegrey]

Well if they cant get to the level where you could believe in them then they aren't really "alternate reality" games are they? They should convey to the player (Reality: the quality or state of being real). If you always feel like its just a silly game that defeats the idea of an ARG doesn't it?

ARGs are like an interactive play where the actors define the narrative in a free form manner; but a plays entire point is to create within the view the suspension of disbelieve to take then into the narrative and tell them the story.

Are my ideas totally off?

[Agent Lex]

[operativegrey]

[Rogi Ocnorb]

How about Global Thermonuclear War"?

You've probably already tried this ten-minute experience.

I've heard that Neurocam can be an immersive experience, though I have absolutely no experience to confirm that.

[operativegrey]

I did the whole NCI thing back in 2005 and still keep tabs on it and talk to people. I am always hoping something new like that will pop up.

[Vecheeso]

yeah, unfortunately the games that blur the line between reality tend to get some people afraid/scared/upset, and because of that, most of those games dont do well because people are scared to start playing and a few people who are playing/following it, actively try and make people scared and paranoid and terrified that the game is real. also, because its known that people get spooked by such thing, a lot of PMs wont make such a game.

the funny thing is that we can only play a game about shooting people and talking to serial killers, and other terrible things, only if we know that its a game. but the fact is that if we dont know its a game, we tend to all act indignant that such a thing is of no interest to us, even though, in game-format it is interesting to us.

Vicarious by Tool, describes it pretty well "Eye on the TV, cause tragedy thrills me, whatever flavor it happens to be like. Killed by the husband, drowned by the ocean, shot by his own son, she used a poison in his tea, then kissed him goodbye. That's my kind of story. It's never fun til someone dies. Cause I need to watch things die, from a good safe distance. Vicariously I live while the whole world dies."

But i agree, I really want to see a game like this come out, but it wont be a while. I cant wait for one to come out. I think that if it does, we need to try and hush-up the naysayers and encourage people to play it. But, that's just me

[thebruce]

to add to that, there have been sentiments in the past that to make an ARG really believable, it can't touch on those types of events - people dying, guns, violence, etc - where police might get involved, or where the players would actually do something outside the bounds of the game - it's, generally speaking, beyond the lifestyle scope of most ARG players, so that wall between reality and fiction is pretty tight.
As a result, a lot of the best, most fun args are the ones that are entirely realistic and feasible, because they don't put the player in a position where they have to ask "would I do/not do this in real life?". now again, for the general public, like you said there's a certain level of 'unrealism' that makes stories fun and entertaining... so a game without action or violence and whatnot might not get a lot of community. But that's certainly not a rule

It's all about how the content is played out... for instance, that kind of action or violence could occur in the game, but if it's outside the scope of the player's influence, then they're not put in that wall-breaking position... an easy solution, for example, is time travel (requiring suspension of disbelief, but not a wall-breaking request of the player) as we saw with ILB, listening to the future as it played out. Thus, there could be a murder, but the player wouldn't have to ask "should I really call the police?!" because they know that it would have no effect in this instance.

So the point, really, is that to maintain a semblance of alternate reality, a player should generally not be asked to do something that they either would never do in real life (to some extent, like letting a blatant murder they know everything about pass without a word to the authorities), or if the result of that request would be a wall/game-breaking consequence (blowing up a real business down the street, or calling the police to a fictional address, or a real address where a fictional murder occurred that ends up being the puppetmaster's home, etc)
And none of that, really, is necessary to make a 'good' ARG.

Honestly, if you really want to live the life of a believable secret agent, you'll have to go and really become a secret agent =)

Also IMO, if an ARG is effectively a real-life RPG, then it's not an ARG... ARGs aren't role-playing games (which to me includes, for instance, having to take actions you'd only take because it's a game).

A good example of one that worked around this might be the Freefall experience for Eagle Eye. If that actually happened, and I had enough time, I most likely would get law enforcement involved right away... but because it happened in such a short, adrenaline packed time where if instructions weren't followed worse might happen, then following through with the experience may very well be what I would have done were it real. (maybe I shouldn't say that too loud ) There's definitely a level of suspension of disbelief (technical aspects of the interface, communication, etc, and a bunch of other aspects), but it's less wall-breaking than other similar experiences.

Anyway, I've rambled long enough... I think my point's been made
Suspension of disbelief = yay!
Reality-breaking requests = not necessary to make a 'good arg'

eat: (sorry) that's definitely not to say that paranoia can't be implemented to an extreme degree and still be believable and 'real'. Could be more difficult, but it's certainly an exciting tool for a memorable experience

[GalvanicSpiral]