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 Forum index » Meta » Puppetmaster Help
It seems like everything has a TimeStamp nowdays...
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OhWhatProvidence
Entrenched


Joined: 26 Sep 2011
Posts: 819
Location: Dallas, Texas

 		It seems like everything has a TimeStamp nowdays...
So, as I'm learning now, ARGs don't lend well to wanting to have things happen in the past.
Context?

Working on an ARG at college, small-scale. Hoping to 'officially' start it in November, but for now I'm just... what's the term? Backlogging?
First I'm planning on starting small, a bit of gurrella marketing with a bulletin board posting in the campus center:
"Why won't you talk to me about what happened? Stop being a recluse, hiding won't solve anything. We need to talk... I set up a secure site so we can talk." and then a link to a site where postings on the forum between the two characters start happening, just teasing really. It might come into play later on as the characters start interacting more, but at the start it's just a treat for people who recognize it before the ARG 'officially' starts, like a pre-trailhead, or a more natural trailhead at least...

Then a few days in the conversation on the "we need to talk about this" forum. "Starting up an alternate reality game on campus! It's a scavenger hunt with a plot! Info meeting on Xday" flyers start showing up.

Then, at the info meeting, the announcement is made by the 'puppetmaster':
"Sorry I lied. it's not a scavenger hunt, but this stuff is happening to a friend of mine, but I had to get you here to talk to you all. She says it's something to big to handle on her own. She won't tell me what happened until I can gather other people to learn about it." and then the actual ARG starts, the scavenger hunt thing where the players start finding clues about just what happened to the Main Character. The other stuff is more a framing device, but it does tie in with the story. Does that make any sense?

The gurrella stuff doesn't really advance the story, just was hoping maybe it could help sell the framing device and the game as a whole more easily, seeing that "Oh, this goes back far. I remember seeing that poster. I've heard those terms before, used on that flyer and that one website." or maybe as a treat to players that already figured out the pre-trailhead instead of just showing up to the meeting.

The more I talk about this idea, the more I hate it, actually.

Right now what I'm trying to do is to have the two characters, the MC who's a recluse, and the proxy who started the forum, having a conversation on the "We need to talk" forum, but the convo took place a few days ago. But the timestamps on the forum are preventing me from posting the conversation.
I guess I don't really need the "talk to me" board, trying to justify it's meaning is showing that it's really pointless at this point in the game. I can't see it helping the main story, just improving the framing device...
But I am still having the timestamp issue in other areas of the ARG, but on those other parts, it's more minor. Do players normally pay attention to timestamps? I'd assume so, the real-time thing.
-sigh- I know my planning sucks. I'm just glad I'm planning this before I start so I can figure this out first.

PostPosted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:24 pm
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Glitchie
Guest


 		I'm with you on there. I know I had just joined today, but for the past couple years I've been playing around with the idea of ARGs without actually knowing what ARGs really are.
I've been tossing a few ideas around in my head and each requires at least a few YEARS of previous work, and connecting it to people that need to disappear, or even subverting a reality that doesn't actually want to exist.
It would be SO much easier if timestamps could be fiddled with, on forums, files, and the like.
Another note: I also hate how on computer files the timestamp reflects the time last veiwed, as opposed to the time created (which would make a big difference in some cases).
I'm with you in that boat, so don't feel too bad.
*wonders if Linux allows timestamp manipulation on files*

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:14 pm
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Glitch_in_da_system
Greenhorn

Joined: 28 Feb 2012
Posts: 3

 		*coughs*
Sorry. That was me up there. Didn't notice I wasn't logged in X.x

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:15 pm
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SimplyLurking
Guest


 		Some blogger sites (like blogger, I think) will actually allow you to backstamp posts. Just a thought.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:22 pm
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Mike086
Greenhorn

Joined: 13 May 2009
Posts: 3

 		Alt-Reality blog service
Wasn't there an alternative reality blogging service in the works a few years ago?

One that allowed you to create posts stamped in the past and such.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:04 pm
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