unforum

[SeanB]

With the current tension of terrorism...

[zeldafan8626]

Haha, we've been having basicly the same discussion in an ARG I'm part of.

While we agree it can be a little insensitive to include bombings and such as part of IG, it's fine if a game has to do with T's (counter strike's taking it's toll against me -o-)

So overall, if done right a CT vs. T ARG would be very nice.

[JoeOE18]

A game where you could catch terrorists might appeal to a lot of people at the moment

[Lewis the Second]

Whilst the keyword in ARGs is reality, I think it's important to differenciate between what's real and what's just a bit of fun. Any form of gaming, be it reality-based or not, is just a bit of fun. Therefore, I don't have a problem with 'risque' matters. Obviously, it's important for developers and PMs to use their common sense, but I think that if they do that, no content would be a problem to me.

What happened in London was terrible, but hey! You gotta get on with it, I guess.

[Crowfoot]

As long as a degree of care is taken with not mentioning RL terrorists or using RL groups, I don't think it should be too much of a problem. There will be a certain aspects of a hesitant atmosphere around games that involve terrorism for a while, and yes some people will disagree with using the content at this point in time, but looking at it from a logical point of view I don't think it would be much of a problem.

[SeanB]

Thank all, great replies.

[GuyP]

You could try to do it.
But I certainly wouldn't.

I think it continues to be an extremely risky theme to adopt, both for security reasons and the difficulty of dealing with the subject matter in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

How about a nice spot of organised crime instead? Much safer, if you ask me. Or the H3ist team, for that matter.

[FLmutant]

So, doing a non-ARG aside here, as one of previous projects had to deal with this topic head on: we were in final shooting and post-production of the film "Nothing So Strange" when 9/11 happened. The film is *really* about grassroots organizations, why they go awry, and why people are probably justified in not trusting authorities. But the way it gets to those subjects is by assassinating Bill Gates in first three minutes in a modern recreation of the core elements of the JFK assassination conspiracy.

When we debuted it in January 2002, our team got grilled on Fox News about whether we were just "exploiting the fears of terrorism" (even though we had started production in 1999) or "inciting people to violence" (nothing could be further from the truth, but then the people who threw the accusations around hadn't actually seen the film, which is typical of detractors in general.)

[Aside: if your curious about how the press might beat you up on that topic, check out the video archive of the Fox News grilling of "Art or Junk?" at http://www.nothingsostrange.com/press/press_list.html]

So we had that conversation, the conversation about whether the sensitivity of the audience had changed so much we should just abort the project. But our belief was that the statement buried inside of it, about the importance of distrusting authority and why that climate was growing in America, was actually more important in the wake of 9/11, even if it was more difficult to consider at the time. And probably still today (I still get the occassional "BILL GATES IS NOT DEAD" hate mail). It certainly hurt the commercial potentials, but it was an indie film project (so we knew the cards were stacked against us from the beginning.)

Heist is a different animal entirely: all the same defenses of first amendent and freedom of expression and fair use go out the window if an effective argument could be made that it is "commercial speech". So, for example, we couldn't even mention Interpol and had tip-toe around the source material about real art heists, real artists, real museums. You can imagine how the Uffizi gallery reacted when Heist contacted them to secure the permissions to write a fiction about a mock art heist of their gallery.

My gut says if you've got an important story to tell and that trudges into the area of cultural reflection (that might include terrorism), don't shy away from it, but be prepared for some controversy. If you're using it just as the texture because of the controversy it might generate, I'd be really cautious (because your best defense to the controversy is "this is cultural criticism here, people!")


Brian

[Flidget Jerome]

Isn't there ARG precedence for this? It was before my time, but I remember hearing that Majestic's implosion was in part due to 9/11 happening while they were mid-game, because the attacks were too close to what was happening in their own storyline and made everyone feel extremely uncomfortable continuing.

[Varin]

[rose]

player view

[addlepated]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050712/CLEAVE12/TPEntertainment/TopStories

"A British author who suffered the misfortune of having his novel about a terrorist attack in London come out the very day of last week's bombings is now appealing to readers to tell him whether to continue to promote the book or not."

[oliverkeers13]

As far as I am concerned, knowing someone who was on one of the trains, there a lot of distaste about making one about terrorists this soon after it. Even a year after 9/11, people were iffy about terrorists, particularly if it were in an ARG. Wait a while.

[GuyP]

I feel I should qualify my assertions a little...

The most major argument not to follow that route is the whole TINAG thing. This forces you to either have a vague, unrealistic plot that nobody could mistake as the real thing, or face having to explain the finer points of the ARG principle to various members of the law enforcement community. The same concern also puts off players like nobody's business.

Secondly, I have to strongly disagree with the idea that "a game where you could catch terrorists might appeal to a lot of people at the moment." I'm more inclined to think that the idea of terrorism being a form of entertainment seems distasteful and, well, just plain icky.

If your aim is to somehow analyse or comment upon terrorism / The War On Terror, then it might be more acheivable to do so as an allegorical tale. For instance, one of the underlying themes of The Beast was the heated social tension regarding AIs, and whether they should be accorded human rights or not, reflecting modern day "issues" without directly featuring them in the plot.

Good luck with your game, though.

[SeanB]

I posted this question to see the reactions and thoughts on the current climate regarding terrorism, counterterrorism ARG's and the replies pretty much confirmed what I felt.

We'll be pulling out our other productions which are of a more suitable nature till the right time appears.

Thanks all for the feedback.