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ARG archival
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Anita18
Boot

Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 17
Location: SoCal

 		ARG archival
Pondering the importance/usefulness of archiving ARGs
While on my intermittent forays into ARGland and seeing what came before me, I noticed that it's rather difficult to find specific real-time information about games, let alone entire campaigns. At best you'd be given a site name and what it was kinda used for, but I have to dig through old forum threads or available Wikis to see how it was found and what trails lead from it, etc etc.

Earlier this year I finally finished a comprehensive online tribute/compilation (whatever you want to call it, it's a combination of both Laughing ) of the Why So Serious campaign. It was as much for me as it was for players to reminiscence, because I really enjoy seeing how something is put together.

My fascination of ARGs (as limited my experience is) mostly consists of the construction - how does one allow an outsider to piece together a story, in an alternate reality occurring in real time no less, when only given little bits of information coming from multiple forms of media? And then how does one communicate the scope of that experience to someone completely new to the concept? The information design challenge really called to me, and I might pursue a similar project for whatever ARGs I can find enough information on. (After doing 400 or so pages for the TDK ARG, I think I can handle pretty much anything. Laughing )

My question is, am I just being self-serving? Is archiving an ARG truly useful for previous players and/or new ones, or do players pretty much move on without any further analysis? Would you personally appreciate a comprehensive rundown of everything that went on in an ARG? I mean, it's enjoyable for me to look back (and I could be the field's information designer/archivist if nobody else is willing to do it Smile ) but I'm wondering if it's enjoyable for anyone else.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:19 am
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konamouse
Official uF Dietitian


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 8010
Location: My own alternate reality

 		A motivated player who LOVED a game, will create a labor of that love to share their experience(s).
I did a Story So Far while playing Sammeeeees (and the sequel) which are both still available here in uF. At one time I created a similar synopsis with many of the videos I had downloaded and posted on Moli.com (which is now gone).
Going back to read the history is a lot like reading a favorite book over again. Totally worth it.
_________________
'squeek'
r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:41 am
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distilled
Unfettered


Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 732
Location: Midlands, UK

 		This is precisely the problem I want to address in my weekly ARG update. I'm hoping to get enthusiastic players of games to write a blog post to summarise a game which they are/were involved in. At the moment I have 2 weeks set up and both are currently running games, hopefully the posts will serve as a guide for players hoping to get involved.

In other weeks I hope to cover games which have closed/are closing. With a view to assisting players in understanding how the games went, where people were allowed to interact and the story that was told.

I'm really hoping I can set up a useful resource for ARGers, but take-up has been slow for guest writers. If you're interested in what I'm doing the link is in my sig.
_________________
http://verydistilled.blogspot.com
Passionate about an ARG? Click here to sign up to be a guest writer on my blog, tell us why!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:46 am
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cyng
Unfettered


Joined: 10 Nov 2007
Posts: 366

 		people generally appreciate and thank the archivist/archivists of a project, especially new ones who come in mid-stream

i think it's pretty unheard of of someone say: gee whiz guys, could you PLEASE stop documenting stuff for us? this wiki is far too complete, and makes too much sense

but i think it helps if you are also an archivist/cheerleader like:

hey guys, we still haven't solved puzzles x, y, z....there on this page on the wiki: have at 'em.

so that you are not just saying what came before, but where the story is going, and how new players can be a part of it

it's hard though, if its a big arg, and you are the sole one updating

also...sometimes, the information disappears, maybe the pm's yanked it, or it just got digital rot...so having that information at your fingertips is valuable for sentimental reasons at least

PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:36 pm
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