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 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
"We're being had"
Moderators: imbri, ndemeter
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RobMagus
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Posts: 469
Location: Vancouver, BC

 		"We're being had"
Quote:
We're being had, but it's all in fun. In that "not really very much fun at all" sort of way.


Here's an interesting opinion on viral marketing/ARGs from one of my daily reads, James Lileks.

(it's the 04/05 Sporadic, if it changes when the page is updated)

http://lileks.com/bleats/index.html
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:34 pm
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krystyn
I Never Tire of My Own Voice


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Is not Chicago

 		... Armchair blather?

Honestly, whatever.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:00 pm
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rose
...and then Magic happens


Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 4117

 		opinions
The opinion that ARGs are not fun is neither interesting nor novel. Ilovebees got (and still gets) the same reaction. Some people refused to play because of the Halo connection, because there were only two websites or because the whole phone thing turned them off. These factors convinced them it was an uninteresting game before they even started.

What I think it comes down to is this, if a person is open to the idea of an ARG, willing to experience and try a bit of the game world, that person is more likely to stay around and enjoy it.

Playing an ARG takes an initial willingness to buy the premise, just as going to a musical requires a willingness to believe that people suddenly burst into song as they go about their busy lives.

If a person starts a game with a closed mind, like the author of that piece, more often or not, that person will be condescendingly dismissive of a game.

This writer starts off being annoyed because he has never heard of Virgil Tatum, King of Code the obviously fake game designer. He knows them all for God's sake, he is an expert! From that point forward, he is just looking to justify his reaction.

Now, he could have had a different attitude. He could have said, this game is using a video game designer as a main character; not too many stories do that, maybe this could be fun to follow. But he wasn't willing to give the story or the game a chance. (To be fair, the websites are quite detailed and packed with information so I can see how he might not feel like bothering.)

He also missed completely the "real world" part of this story, which is the actual disappearance of the car. The dealership from where the car was stolen had a broken window, security guards and a woman handing out flyers with Ian's picture. It was at the Auto Show and not returned. I don't know if that would change his attitude, but he is missing a major element of this story.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:06 pm
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Alzheimers
Unfettered

Joined: 02 Aug 2004
Posts: 339

 		Yum, that's some good cynicism.

Makes me want to curl up and die, for some reason.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:33 pm
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Nightmare Tony
Entrenched

Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 824
Location: Meadowbrook

 		Its just a case simply of someone who doesnt "get it".
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:10 am
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LordKinbote
Decorated

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 261

 		Re: opinions
rose wrote:
The opinion that ARGs are not fun is neither interesting nor novel. Ilovebees got (and still gets) the same reaction. Some people refused to play because of the Halo connection, because there were only two websites or because the whole phone thing turned them off. These factors convinced them it was an uninteresting game before they even started.


But at what point are you allowed to decide it's not for you without being accused of "giving it a chance", even if you're generally a fan of ARGs? Are people expected to stick around for a month before making a decision?

An ARG lives or dies by its first few moments. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you can tell by the first few pages.

This whole rash of IM ARGS (you know, the kind where you get a mysterious IM asking for help and most of the interaction takes place through one on one conversations) puts me off. Most of them just seem so trite. Am I wrong for not giving them a chance?

I don't disagree with your general point, though.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:35 am
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Marrec
Unfettered


Joined: 12 Sep 2004
Posts: 303
Location: Las Cruces, NM

 		Re: opinions
LordKinbote wrote:
An ARG lives or dies by its first few moments. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you can tell by the first few pages.


I don't know about that. It took me a month to get bored with ILB (Not to say ILB wasn't a fun concept, it just obviously wasn't my style of game). Funny to note, ILB was my first ARG and even though I had a bad experience with it, I'm still in love with ARGs. Maybe it's just me who thinks that's funny. Also, it's taken me a week to get interested in Art of the Heist. Point is: To this ARGer, a game lives or dies by it's content, not if it goes off with lots of bells and whistles and a bang. Hell, it's taken Perplex City over a year to NOT get started, and I'm still glued to my computer screen.

LordKinbote wrote:
This whole rash of IM ARGS (you know, the kind where you get a mysterious IM asking for help and most of the interaction takes place through one on one conversations) puts me off. Most of them just seem so trite. Am I wrong for not giving them a chance?

I don't disagree with your general point, though.
There has been a discussion of this here. So in an effort to keep the ranting dicussion in one thread, I'll not post my opinion here.
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:17 am
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krystyn
I Never Tire of My Own Voice


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Is not Chicago

 		I don't think anyone has to give anything a chance.

I just think Lileks felt he needed to have an opinion on something, and so he held forth in a really casual, unresearched manner. More's the pity for him, really. Not the rest of us.

He's just one dude.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 3:22 pm
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buff
Veteran


Joined: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 106

 		As always; it's a question about whether or not somebody (in this case Lilek) is willing to accept new concepts and new ways of life. If you doesn't accept that nothing is perfect in the beginning, and nothing is perfect for everybody - nothing will be capturing and enjoyable.

Let him have his opinion and we can continue to enjoy our concept of reality! Very Happy

On the subject of ARGs being boring; not every game suit everybody. I, for one, found ILB incredibly boring (from the beginning, to the end) but instead found something very enjoyable in Urban Hunter. As always, taste is individual.

Let him rant, we have puzzles to solve Wink
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:31 am
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