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 Forum index » Updates » Press and Other Analysis
[PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
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Varin
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Joined: 02 Dec 2002
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Location: South of where I used to be

 		[PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
JebJoya popped into chat to tell us about the article in PCGamer (uk version). Thanks Jeb!

See the scans here.

edited to add: See the easier to navigate, but still somewhat big pdf here! (Thanks Scrappy!)

I did buy the US version of the magazine and the article is NOT in it. So if any of you UKer's out there feel like doing a girl a favor, I'd be happy to pay someone to pick up the magazine and ship a copy to me Smile
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:30 pm
Last edited by Varin on Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:21 am; edited 2 times in total
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Phaedra
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 		Re: [PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
Varin wrote:
JebJoya popped into chat to tell us about the article in PCGamer (uk version). Thanks Jeb!

See the scans here.

I did buy the US version of the magazine and the article is NOT in it. So if any of you UKer's out there feel like doing a girl a favor, I'd be happy to pay someone to pick up the magazine and ship a copy to me Smile


Cool article, but um...

Since when do the PMs NOT read Unfiction when their games are going?

"Safe from the prying eyes of the enemy"?

Since when are the PMs our ENEMIES?

<sigh>

Ah, the press.
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:50 pm
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jbd
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Joined: 27 Jul 2004
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 		Re: [PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
Phaedra wrote:
Since when do the PMs NOT read Unfiction when their games are going?

"Safe from the prying eyes of the enemy"?

Since when are the PMs our ENEMIES?


By enemies, I presume they mean in-game characters. Since Unfiction is OOG you don't have to be worried about your post causing a plot event.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:07 pm
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Brain\Storm
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 		Cringe may thee
It still made me cringe a bit the way they said some things.
"This is not newbie-friendly territory" <--Since when?
OHHHH you mean trout?

So lets say someone is getting their daily fill-in here on the forums and wants to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible without reading the exact same puzzle solve 5 or 6 times? Trout was "invented" to bring a TINY,-mind you-, amount of shame to the person who did so. It's not like we go tearing people's heads off. How unfriendly is this? --> Trout

Speaking of Adrian Hon as "4orty2wo's competition" is also slightly.. Screwy".
In my experience, PMs- regardless of all circumstances- are in the "boat together" so-to-speak. Even if [PM-one]'s games are funded by [PM-two]'s mortal enemy, they still remain a tight-knit circle.
Never have i seen an 2 ARGs competing for the same thing - commercially that is. They may compete for players if the two games occur in the same time-frame.

In all i'd say we've yet to see an article that does this genre justice for what it truly is... a work of art. For those who may have read that article and thought that maybe you won't try to become a part of this great community, please give it a chance. Its a hell of a ride. I can back that up 100%. Wink
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:17 am
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Shaded Spriter
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Joined: 07 Apr 2005
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Location: England

 		I saw this article yesterday and I was thinking about buying the magazine today...(The day the magazine SHOULD of been out...It was out a day early in WHSmiths for some reason...)

I have joined Perplex city after reading the article...
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:12 am
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Varin
I Have No Life


Joined: 02 Dec 2002
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Location: South of where I used to be

 		Re: Cringe may thee
Brain\Storm wrote:

"This is not newbie-friendly territory" <--Since when?


Well, if you read it in context it makes sense to me.

Quote:
As the central philosophy of ARG is 'This Is Not A Game,' many players insist the illusion is maintained by remaining 'in-character' at all times. Stumbling upon a forum of people talking in context, and refusing to explain, doesn't exactly help you understand what's going on. This is not newbie-friendly territory.


emphasis is mine

The author says that TINAG isn't newbie-friendly territory. So I really think they are referring to meta questions/statements being ignored or deleted when posted or asked in an ingame space - like when posts showed up on Dana's blog that said "I think this is just a marketing ploy for Halo 2 - this isn't real!" Newbies who stumble upon the ingame space and who aren't aware of unfiction and other forums can probably be quite confused as to why they can't talk about the "game" in front of the characters. That's my take anyway. Smile

edited to add: Later they also say...

Quote:
There are two types of forums: in-game (where fiction is religiously observed), and out-of-game sites, where everyone can speak openly. The latter are much more accesible, and essential reading for new players.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:37 am
Last edited by Varin on Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:06 am; edited 1 time in total
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Phaedra
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 		Re: Cringe may thee
Brain\Storm wrote:
It still made me cringe a bit the way they said some things.
"This is not newbie-friendly territory" <--Since when?
OHHHH you mean trout?


I said it in chat, I'll say it here.

Huh? Confused

My first post here was long, dry, badly constructed and rambling. And yet no one said anything nasty -- in fact people were very nice and welcomed me to the forum and everything else. I don't think anyone even trouted me until I'd posted about 40 times or so.

Brain\Storm wrote:
Speaking of Adrian Hon as "4orty2wo's competition" is also slightly.. Screwy".
In my experience, PMs- regardless of all circumstances- are in the "boat together" so-to-speak. Even if [PM-one]'s games are funded by [PM-two]'s mortal enemy, they still remain a tight-knit circle.
Never have i seen an 2 ARGs competing for the same thing - commercially that is. They may compete for players if the two games occur in the same time-frame.


I don't know Adrian Hon, so I can't say for sure about him, but I think one can be fairly certain that 4orty 2wo doesn't view their relationship that way.

From an email exchange between Sean and me:

Sean Stewart wrote:
SEAN: On the side, have you been following PerplexCity? If so, how's it
going?

ME: I haven't. Sorry.

SEAN: (Later, regarding NYT article) Unbelievably good timing for the Perplex City folks, though, which is nice (we know them, we're rooting for them). Great way to kick off a campaign.


Um, yeah. "We're rooting for them." Sounds awfully rival-ish to me. Rolling Eyes

Reading that article made me smack my forehead at least four separate times.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:48 am
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Phaedra
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 		Re: [PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
jbd wrote:
Phaedra wrote:
Since when do the PMs NOT read Unfiction when their games are going?

"Safe from the prying eyes of the enemy"?

Since when are the PMs our ENEMIES?


By enemies, I presume they mean in-game characters. Since Unfiction is OOG you don't have to be worried about your post causing a plot event.


Right, but the idea that the PMs don't read the forum is patently absurd.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:49 am
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Varin
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Joined: 02 Dec 2002
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 		Re: [PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
Overall, I think the article was pretty good. There may be some misworded sentences here that could be read in the wrong way, but 99% of it is pretty accurate. The 1% that is "iffy" can probably be chalked up to the author's own introduction experience to ARGs. While doing their research, if they had a bad newbie experience, they're probably gonna write about it. I don't recognize the authors name. Does anyone know if they are a member here?

If I had read this four years ago, (when I knew nothing of ARGs and when I spent a good amount of time reading PC/video game articles while I worked at a video game store) I would have been highly impressed by this article and would have surely checked out the community. I think an article like this, even with flaws, is a good thing. It'll introduce a lot of people to the genre and most likely the article will sit positively with them. They don't have years of experience playing multiple ARGs and so they probably won't have their ARG [META] hats on. Wink

/me takes her [META] hat off and puts it in the closet
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:17 am
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Brain\Storm
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 		Re: [PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
Varin wrote:
* Varin takes her [META] hat off and puts it in the closet


Those hats are the tin foil cone-shaped ones right? Dunce Razz
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:25 am
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rose
...and then Magic happens


Joined: 26 Nov 2003
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 		good work adrian and dan
Congrats to adrian and dan and the Perplex City PMs for getting this article in a major gaming magazine! Way to go guys, I understand the magazine even included a DVD of the movie. I am going to try to find a copy of the UK version in the newstands here. Who knew this game was going to help me explore which international newstands carry which magazines? At least, I hope I will be prepared for the next game.

And on a completely different note, who knew there were so many, um, racks of magazines with women in varying stages of undress on the covers?? The few magazines I read, I subscribe to, or read in waiting rooms, or at the gym. I am getting a bit embarassed to walk around a bodega or magazine store, staring at the titles and trying to find newspapers and magazines from across the pond.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:25 am
Last edited by rose on Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:32 am; edited 1 time in total
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Shaded Spriter
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 		I just thought...there might be a clue hidden somewhere in the magazine...It is worth a quick search.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:29 am
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Brain\Storm
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Shaded Spriter wrote:
I just thought...there might be a clue hidden somewhere in the magazine...It is worth a quick search.

Actually i was thinking more along the lines of it having an "easter egg" of sorts or something, since the "clue" was blatantly provided on the DVD. If it were to have a little hidden something... that is. Wink
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:34 am
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Jonathan2k5(notloggedin)
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 		Re: good work adrian and dan
rose wrote:
Congrats to adrian and dan and the Perplex City PMs for getting this article in a major gaming magazine! .



That would be me...hehe Cool

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:42 pm
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botherer
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
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 		Re: [PRESS]ARG article in PCGamer
Phaedra wrote:

Cool article, but um...
Since when do the PMs NOT read Unfiction when their games are going?
"Safe from the prying eyes of the enemy"?
Since when are the PMs our ENEMIES?
<sigh>
Ah, the press.


Glad you almost liked it.

There was a slight mix-up in the order those two paragraphs fell, mentioning the MU forums after the bit about PMs not being allowed to read. Sorry about that. It was meant to explain that MU in-game forums agree that the PM's characters won't read, and it became muddled.

As for the enemy part - that's your wilful misinterpretation. As someone else has said, it's obviously that the PMs play the parts of the less savory characters in the game, and hence are responsible for the roles of "enemies". Unless you think otherwise.

It was a fairly huge subject to write about, and I did my very best to explain a completely new concept to a brand new audience, and capture my experiences while doing so. Sorry it didn't meet your expectations.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:03 pm
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