unforum

[danhon]

If *I* were a PM...

[Wishi-san]

- Worldwide real life events (to give everyone a chance to join in the fun)
- Puzzles which fit well with the storyline
- Unpredictability
- Responsiveness to users / integration of users into the storyline instead of having them just as bystanders

That'll do for now

[Semioclast]

I would post some clues in US publications, too, DAN.

[Varin]

...pictures of the main characters. It might be that I just have a limited imagination, but I like to have a visual reference.


EDIT because I thought of another...

A variety of puzzle types. It's no fun if people are left out just because someone always hits the crypto solving applet first. I'd say a good mix of visual, word, math, logic and crypto. Maybe some cooperative ones thrown in too.

[yanka]

- more mystery. I want that awesome high of near-accidental discovery; that genuine "wtf?!" feeling that takes over you as you find something weird enough for you to really NOT know what this is about - kinda like metacortechs.com was before Oct. 1. My favorite in that category would be the Aquapolis (this is coming from someone who only played one game, but it was the best one ever ) – trying to decipher the incidentlogs, coming up with different possibilities for what might be behind that door on Delos, working on the floor layouts, never really getting any confirmation that I was on the right track – that chase was absolutely addictive! (but then, of course, there is the risk that the whole thing will turn out to be just "thematic" ). You have no idea what you're looking for, much less why you're looking for it, and in a weird and disturbing way that absence of reason, that blank in your understanding ensures that your commitment to the search will be oh so much stronger.

- probably nobody will support me here, but I actually want less character interaction. Somehow not being able to communicate with Caesar and Co. made them much more real (I'm resorting to examples here in an attempt to better make a point); had I been given a chance to talk with Scratch, for example, I would have instantly remembered he was a fake – just a character in this game I was playing – and my freakish affection for that guy would have undoubtedly collapsed. It was great, though, to read their comments on "oafs stumping all over our network", or Metacortechs' mention of "brute force attempts" – especially in the beginning of the game, it had that "omg, are they talking about us?!" feel. Or cracking logins – I loved the fact that we weren't helping a character find something, instead we were... you know, hacking stuff!

-have more things like the CD hunt in MU. First, it really distorts the borders that the player places on the realm of the game – all of a sudden the game is not just on the net anymore, and just as suddenly it feels much less like a game. Second, you have this notion that all of these other people are looking for the same thing - and that you, and them are a part of this mysterious larger whole – a puzzle-piece of which you are holding in your hand right now. If possible, I would even go further and send people out on a hunt for different things that they can then come back to unfiction (or wherever) with to put them together. Another thing – it'd be cool to see more of the game out in the world; in the sort of way that in "Pattern Recognition" the "footage heads" found ways of letting each other know who they were, or put stickers on bus stops... or the UK guys here found crypto ads while searching for jobs (btw, I sincerely envy all of you).

I guess, as much as possible, I'd like to be questioning the fact that I am playing a game (and, yes, I am aware that I'd have to be a lot more psychotic for that effect to really take place ); unfortunately, I'm not really creative enough to be able to offer more concrete suggestions on how to make that happen.

------edit------

Maybe just one: not sure if it's possible in this case, but it is way cool when the game launches, and the players aren't really aware of that fact (something called a stealth launch, I guess?). One of the best things about MU, imo, was the initial speculation on wth this thing was. Maybe it would be possible to implement that on some in-game site later, or on a character - where it/he/she would have to be discovered in outside-of-the-game ways - google, or newpapers, etc.?

Ok, I'm really done; and sorry for being long-winded and... uhh, corny.

[Ozy_y2k]

....less asparagus. More cheese pizza.

[Diandra]

The best immersive fiction game would have...

[Omnie]

...a great story. And the puzzles would serve to further the story in meaningful ways rather than just exist for their own sake.

A great story absolutely requires great, sympathetic, developed characters (well, at least one) to carry that story. So a good ARG would have good writers voicing the characters.

Oh, and some level of curtain would be nice to allow for the suspension of disbelief. Good stories serve as escapism, and it's very hard to fall into a story when you're constantly reminded that it's just something that somebody is writing. Heh, MU was fantastic in this respect, but it wouldn't even be necessary to go that far.

[PaleFigure]

...(at least) one sympathetic protagonist who genuinely *needs* our help, not just takes it when we get around to offering something. Make us feel that someone's life depends on us pulling our finger out and solving that damn puzzle!

...one character so cold and ruthless, that we hate them with an almost inhuman passion. Until the day they contact us directly, and reveal that they have monitored everything we've ever said about them, and every visit we've made to their little cyber domain, and that they know exactly who we are and where are and can decide, at any time, that we're enough trouble to be worth taking care of. Then it's bye-bye inhuman passion and hello change of underwear.

...someone must die. Ideally, someone we've grown to love, regardless of how "main character" they are. Yes, it hurts us, it breaks our hearts and we NEVER EVER ENTIRELY FORGIVE YOU FOR IT YOU BASTARDS but it's emotional investment like that which makes a game memorable.

...that's all I got for now. Plus I agree with a whole bunch of things other people have already said, too.

[Muffin]

One important thing for me as a UK resident - real time events spread over ALL time zones

That way, I don't have to just catch up every morning - I could actually participate in the excitement of being there when it (whatever fully immersive ARG event it was ) was happening.

I could just stay up all night of course, but then my fiancee would probably leave me

[Tien_Le]

What makes a game go round?

[Wishi-san]

I have to say I don't agree with PaleFigure that much. Yes we want to be immersed completely but if every ARG followed the same pattern and covered the same subjects in that way then it'd certainly not be that exciting.

We want creativity from them, not to feed them with the direction the storyline must follow.

[Guest]

The ability to take on a life of it's own, and evolve as a unit, rather than being pushed in a certain direction by the PM(s).

And Diandra I agree - balls and cash - that's what needed...

[Adrian]

I think people are making unwarranted conclusions about what the actual game will be like based on the mini-puzzles in the Guardian and Marketing Week. That wasn't a game. They weren't even puzzles, they were just mini-puzzles that we whipped up to stick on the adverts (which is what they were mostly for). So the fact that there was no story and that we stood around bugging you guys to solve it so you would be able to find the ads before they went off the shelves should not be seen as any indicator for the main game.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, it is *totally inconceivable* that there will be PMs loitering in chat rooms during the main game talking to players as developers as opposed to characters. No doubt there will be someone capturing logs, as I'm sure most conscientious PMs do, but we will probably not have the time to read them.

Have a little faith guys I don't expect people to think that the game will be great based on what's happened so far - I know I wouldn't. But neither should it be condemned. Q4 is a long way off from now and there will be plenty of work to do for everyone.

The suggestions so far have been very instructive - there hasn't been anything totally novel but the emphasis placed on various aspects of games is interesting.

[aiesha_anonymous]

i want my boundaries pushed

i want someone to turn up on my doorstep out of the blue, hand me something cryptic and disappear. i want the game to intrude upon my life. i want to have to make a decision about whether or not to pursue a game necessary action because i'm risking looking like a dodo to my friends.

i want to learn, about myself, about myth, crypto, greek mythology, anything

i want to be an important part of the story

i want to create it with you

i want the rewards (satisfaction, friends) to be worth the effort i've invested