unforum

[truegent]

[META] Is ILB an ARG?

[Nightmare Tony]

Good point, or if there are other sites, they will unfold gradually.

But if it all stays on Ilovebees, it would prove interesting, sort of like a 1 room mystery. Take for examplel, the absolutely taut and riveting Alfred Hitchcock movie REAR WINDOW which is pretty much filmed all in a single room.

And one thing as a haunted house designer I always do is NEVER DO WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT. All the Halo fan's expectations were shattered yesterday. We are getting information no one really was able to predict accurately. But the story is taut and riveting enough that we keep going with it.

ARG is an art form that is gradualyl expandingh and unfolding in its methods of madness. How boring would life bee if we stuck to the old format and kept to it, no matter what!

Another example is in rollercoasters. Back in 1996, the world's first rollercoastrer to break 100 miles an hour was built. Called Superman: Thje Escape, it blew minds as it used an electronic rail gun to hurl its cars up to sp[eed and up a giant tower that was over 400 feet tall, with several seconds of fallingh straight down. Rollercoaster fans were so freaked out that whole bunches were running around claiming that it wasnt a rollercoaster. It also proved to be the grandaddy of a whole new generation of rollercoasters and ride designs that have gone farther than ever before, thanks to the precepts of its ground breaking accomplishment.

Right now, Cedar Point beat it by 4 feet, and next year, Great Adventure will be taller still, but these merely supersize a true original.


We are in an original, gang. Be ready for absolutely anything, EXCEPT
t for Halo 2 demo disks in 3 days!

[Can-ned Food]

However, I must say that I have also noticed a lack of involving things to do for ILB. Except waiting and working on updates, there isn't much one can do.

It is art, but it would be better if something pressed the conception of impending doom on us, thus inclining involvement.

EDIT: Refer to [SPEC]We are definitely still in Pre-Game
.

[chaotic_mind]

[Scumbag]

Personally, I don't think so. I think I've been rather clear on that, although probably annoyingly so.

I don't consider this an "ARG". Admittedly, my knowledge of ARGs is limited to my brief interest in "The Beast".

I don't consider ILB to be an ARG, simply because I've experienced a great deal of what I call Bungie Puzzles (if for no other reason than its a proper noun I can use). Ever since one day in which I was so bored at work I called up the Marathon Story Page, I've learned so much about these puzzles. How they act, why they act, how they are done.

While the scope of ILB is much larger than previous puzzles, I don't believe that this is some grand ARG that some claim. I see it simply as the largest Bungie Puzzle ever made.

As many people have said, look what the 'players' have to do. They get information, analyse it, and get more information. While some have wondered why, I personally do - because that is what we're supposed to do. This leads me to believe this isn't an ARG.

I do want to say, though, that I am very glad ARGers got tricked into thinking this was an ARG. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of Bungie's threaded forums, and a "headquarters" like this has been absolutely invaluable, even though I've occasionally gotten frustrated at some interpretations or mistruths. Lord knows I've prolly frustrated as many people with my constant reminder of what they consider wrong

In short - ILB ain't an ARG, IMO. ARG-like enough to get ARGers interested early, it has done exactly what it was designed to do - make the biggest Bungie Puzzle ever made.

[Varin]

Well here's my personal basic definition of an ARG -

It doesn't have to be grand in scale or long in length. For me, it's just what the name says - Alternate Reality Game - 1. a game 2. with an alternate reality for the players to take part in (some sort of immersion)

Others may disagree with me, but I don't think an ARG has to be just like the Beast to be called an ARG.

[Ikkarus]

Wow. Imagine my shock. Scumbag replied to this thread and he thinks this is not an ARG. Well, holy crap.

What is this fascination with defining this experience as one thing but not another? Here's a crazy idea: maybe this is one of Scumbag's coveted Bungie Puzzle's and it is an ARG.

I know what you're saying: "But Ikkarus, how could that be? How could it be one thing and something else?" I know, it's hard to wrap your head around. Try it, though. The results may surprise.

I could just as easily call this game "interactive science-fiction storytelling utilizing email, websites, and payphones." And you know what? I'd be right. But that's a lot of typing, so I'm going to go back to calling it an ARG and still be right.

Funny how that works.

[Checksum]

First off, does it matter what the heck you call it? Whatever the PMs put out there for us is what we get, and if we enjoy it, then we enjoy it. So far I'm enjoying it, definitely. (enough so that's it's seriously putting a crimp in my packing for my move to Chicago).

That said, if you call the Beast an ARG, then I'd call ILB an ARG, if for no other reason than because it seems clear to me that the same PMs are doing it. Furthermore, there's an alternate reality in which we have Dana, Melissa, Jan, the Castaway, etc. so in that sense it's definitely an ARG.

I can't say where or not it's a Bungie puzzle because I'm not a Halo player and don't know what being a Bungie puzzle inplies.

I'd venture to say that the two terms, ARG and BP, aren't mutually exclusive, and so you don't really need to say this is one or the other.

-checksum

P.S. Nobody "tricked" me into playing anything. I don't know what that's suppsoed to mean, other than perhaps trying to be inflammatory.

[Arana]

Re: [META] Is ILB an ARG?

[Theorizer]

Re: [META] Is ILB an ARG?

[bagsbee]