Author
Message
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0
Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 4033 Location: Here, obviously
Re: "Local" ARGs
ProfMoriarty wrote:
I just recently got into ARGs. I find the whole genre very exciting, but already I'm looking towards that damned curtain in curiosity... What is it like to sit behind it?
I'm not very ambitous, so I thought I might do something based here in my hometown of Juneau, AK.
Basically, I'm not looking for generic PM advice, but any advice you might have for a PM who wishes to tackle a game within his own town. Thanks in advance.
I'm very interested in how location might figure into ARGs (especially after playing the comparatively localized ILB -- but I'd like to see what happened if one took it several steps further) so let me add my voice to the chorus of "Keep Us Updated!"s.
_________________Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.
World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:41 pm
Nightmare Tony
Entrenched
Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 824 Location: Meadowbrook
Good luck, Prof. This might help, though. We had just finished up a small ARG which is on here. All the storyline and communication between tghe PMS were on a private message board. None of us have met in person in fact, and only one other PM I had brought in that I talk to via phone.
You may wish to consider that in the running of your ARG. You can also recruit on here some likely PMs. I thnk there is still a classified for PMs on here
_________________For this is the place where dreams and nightmares are birthed and bred
Nightmare Park
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:16 pm
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0
Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 4033 Location: Here, obviously
Nightmare Tony wrote:
Good luck, Prof. This might help, though. We had just finished up a small ARG which is on here. All the storyline and communication between tghe PMS were on a private message board. None of us have met in person in fact, and only one other PM I had brought in that I talk to via phone.
You may wish to consider that in the running of your ARG. You can also recruit on here some likely PMs. I thnk there is still a classified for PMs on here
But I think his whole point was that he wanted it to be local . So unless there are potential PMs in the recruiting area that are in his city (doubtful) I don't know if that'll help him much.
_________________Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.
World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:19 pm
Nightmare Tony
Entrenched
Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 824 Location: Meadowbrook
Different dynamic then. One would need to target the local computer population then, but that also means that most everyone may know who is doing the game there depends on how large and how close knit the internet community is there....
_________________For this is the place where dreams and nightmares are birthed and bred
Nightmare Park
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:23 pm
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0
Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 4033 Location: Here, obviously
Nightmare Tony wrote:
Different dynamic then. One would need to target the local computer population then, but that also means that most everyone may know who is doing the game there depends on how large and how close knit the internet community is there....
Is it absolutely necessary that an ARG be strongly computer-centered? Isn't that one of the possibilities that a local ARG opens up? Something that's closer to a hybrid between an ARG and, say, one of Jane's Go Games?
That's what I'm talking about when I talk about location figuring strongly into the structure of a game -- I'm not talking about a traditional ARG only aimed at a small population; I'm talking about an ARG that uses the location instead of just being there.
Clues that require intimate knowledge of the city. Perhaps in-game live meetings. Actual, physical (rather than digital) clues that have to be found, as in a treasure hunt. A story that is set in the city and partakes strongly of what is unique to that city.
_________________Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.
World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:28 pm
Nightmare Tony
Entrenched
Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 824 Location: Meadowbrook
The game is not at all needing to be computer related. As you remember, the original THE GAME in Seattle while it may use computers, is entirely based on physical locations.
Prof Moriarty has many ways to go, depending on his goals. As I mentioned we did with DarkSky, none of us even lived in the same state, but all worked together to provide a fun game experience for the players.
There is no rule that says that Prof must depend on local talent to help with his campaign. He can always set up to use talent from all over but the PLAYER base being local.
All we are offering is advice in here for him, but he must elucidate for us the precise goals he is seeking. we cannot assume his goals and definitions for this game.
_________________For this is the place where dreams and nightmares are birthed and bred
Nightmare Park
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:39 pm
bill
Unfettered
Joined: 25 Sep 2002 Posts: 614 Location: Tampa
Nightmare Tony wrote:
Different dynamic then. One would need to target the local computer population then, but that also means that most everyone may know who is doing the game there depends on how large and how close knit the internet community is there....
You need more than technophiles to make a good game. Neurocam, although not yet an ARG, seems to be mostly artsy types. Steinitz is being produced by a marketing company with a heavy background in film. Although both of these examples include people who seem highly tech savvy, you need other disciplines involved to really make a compelling experience. Not to mention helping with promotion.
If I were recruiting a PM team, especially locally, I would look offline for talent. Local artists, radio/tv broadcasters, universities...
ARGs are nice for a global audience since they are primarily on the web. For a local experience, you have a real opportunity to make it even more real. Why squander that?
_________________
Bill
http://deaddrop.us/
Dedicated to Alternate Reality Gaming
Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:49 pm
Nightmare Tony
Entrenched
Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 824 Location: Meadowbrook
a LOT of the talent in here isnt necessarily the technophile crowd. You can also find people form all walks of life all over the net, so I do think that even going onto a board like this here gives a good cross section of the various facets required.
I do agree fully aobut the various disciplines needed for making a complelling and fun game. Too heavy or light in any of the dynamics such as storyline, puzzles, execution, interaction can make for a bad game.
_________________For this is the place where dreams and nightmares are birthed and bred
Nightmare Park
Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:58 pm
leakingpen
Decorated
Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 187
woot! damn! i have a BOX full of ideas i had for a local game about 5 years back to mess with people that came from a single random idea of a puzzle of a lyric from a petty song (all the vampire, living in the city) and the answer being move west down ventura blvd, and that being the directions as part of a map to find the next clue. i put a buncha stuff together, and never did it. ive been messing around with args for a while now, and NEVER thought of redoing it that way. mwahahaha. let the games begin. hmmm. any valley of the sun residents like to be involved? i think i could use a hand or three.
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:15 pm
JebJoya
Unfettered
Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 679 Location: UK
I'd been thinking about doing one here at uni, stick some things on the notice boards in the union to get people in, that sort of thing... Mainly grab the freshers next year, get a community doing the thing which is always good for freshers when they start at uni... I've got a web designer and stuff, tho there shouldn't be too much online, it'll be more like a treasure hunt in real life, I dunno, could work...
Jeb
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:13 am
C_Brennan
Decorated
Joined: 02 Sep 2004 Posts: 236 Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Yeah... oddly enough I was considering doing something for the University of Pittsburgh... Just never got around to actually fleshing out the idea of "Veritas Virtus" as it was going to be named... And it sorta fell on the wayside because it wasn't important...
Maybe next year... if I actually want to resurrect the possibility of running it...
_________________"Here's a kitty, there's a kitty, my kitty too! Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty... um... I ran out of rhyme..."
-Synagoga, after getting her first cat from "Auntie" Seraphina
In-Play: The Dark Knight
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:19 am
imbri
Entrenched
Joined: 21 Sep 2002 Posts: 1182 Location: wonderland
Look into campus resources for that as well. I know that we've talked about a variety of pervasive experiences with the Mobile Tech Group at Ga Tech.
- b
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:50 pm
clownhater7
Veteran
Joined: 01 Nov 2005 Posts: 90
I am going to start one revolving around myspace, since nearly the whole school has it. (BTW, I live in Albuquerque, NM)
http://www.myspace.com/iseeyouRGHS
_________________- Mic
Old-timer back for some new excitement a decade later
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:35 pm
White_Knight
Boot
Joined: 07 Nov 2003 Posts: 58
Clownhater7: I'd be very careful if I were you. Alot of new ARGers come in and immediately want to jump behind that curtain. Most get tangled in the fabric, trip, end up falling into the machine, get ground up and spit out. If i had 1 peice of advice for you: WAIT!
Just chill in the community for a while....just hang....get a grasp of the art form, how things are done, try to get your self onto a team as a helper, then SLOWLY get into running games.....and by slowly I mean 2 to 3 years is a good time.
Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:29 am
clownhater7
Veteran
Joined: 01 Nov 2005 Posts: 90
White_Knight wrote:
Clownhater7: I'd be very careful if I were you. Alot of new ARGers come in and immediately want to jump behind that curtain. Most get tangled in the fabric, trip, end up falling into the machine, get ground up and spit out. If i had 1 peice of advice for you: WAIT!
Just chill in the community for a while....just hang....get a grasp of the art form, how things are done, try to get your self onto a team as a helper, then SLOWLY get into running games.....and by slowly I mean 2 to 3 years is a good time.
1. I've been around the ARG community for quite sometime, just never really posted.
2. The whole school has horrible IQ's so a plot wouldn't be hard to keep going
3. I think you're right still, so I will wait. Maybe not so long, but at least get a couple of easier deals under my belt.
_________________- Mic
Old-timer back for some new excitement a decade later
Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:19 pm
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