[arg_discuss] Talkin' about UF (was: Communities and resources)

Tue Apr 4 14:34:43 EDT 2006

Okay, I just reread this and the same of all the typos and wrong  
words "no" istead of "know" etc is hitting. But as I said, I was on  
the phone listening to a bunch of people squabble when I wrote it.  
Sorry again.

I just want to clarify that I am most definitely not making an  
argument that Blair Witch was the first ARG, only using it as an  
example of something that came before what many at UF consider the  
first ARG to demonstrate the slightly myopic view of ARGs in general  
that can emanate from UF and end up representing the form as a whole.

Best,

Mike
__________
haxan | films | http://www.haxan.com

On Apr 4, 2006, at 1:38 PM, Michael Monello wrote:

> Splitting this off to a new thread, as there are so many different  
> threads already happening in the original post.
>
> And sorry for the disorganized nature of this post -- most of it  
> was actually written while on a conference call.
>
> First, I love UnFiction. I think it is an amazing community and the  
> passion they exhibit, the way they self organize, is wonderful.  
> Everyone I've been in direct communication from UF has been  
> incredibly smart, open, and genuinely enjoyable people. I'd like to  
> eventually work with most of them on projects as they have  
> brilliant ideas.
>
> But, I'm going to talk about UF the community, not the individuals  
> -- the large mass of audience, and the particular "hive mind" that  
> powers UF, recognizing that many in the community don't always (or  
> even ever) agree with that "hive mind." Nevertheless, UF most  
> definitely has a community personality, and just as we might have  
> trouble stepping outside our families to view them with an  
> objective eye, I will argue that active members of UF or those who  
> identify themselves as members will also have trouble stepping out  
> from behind that self-identification to see what others can see  
> (i.e. newbies).
>
> And I will argue that PM's see another side of the community hidden  
> from themselves and newbies. It's "Rashômon."
>
> What I find problematic with UF is the idea that they represent a  
> community of people who simply love "ARGs." Some of them do, of  
> course, and all of them like to play ARG's, obviously, but I think  
> we are already seeing where the UF community's tastes lie and they  
> do have certain tastes within the great big world of ARGs.
>
> Has anyone ever come across a community of people who simply claim  
> they just "love music?" Of course not -- you have communities for  
> people who are indie rockers, jazz fans, classical hounds, metal  
> heads, etc.
>
> But because ARGs are essentially a young art form, we have  
> UnFiction, which stakes it's claim to simply loving ARGs. And in  
> general they do, but when they try to define an ARG, they tend to  
> define it in relation only to their own tastes and experiences.
>
> Where that becomes an issue for the ARG community at large is when  
> those outside the ARG community look at UF and imagine it speaks  
> for all ARG's rather than say a specific style of ARG. What happens  
> is the UF community's tastes become scene as the dominant form.
>
> If all you knew about music was from reading Pitchforkmedia, well  
> then you would know an awful lot about a very broad range of music  
> that can all be fit within one basic genre -- indie rock. You would  
> no nothing of classical, jazz, country, etc.
>
> Now, ARGs are obviously a much younger art form, which makes the UF  
> influence that much stronger (and thus worthy of looking at from  
> all angles).
>
> The community at Unfiction was borne out of The Beast, so it's  
> natural that the majority of the community would gravitate to that  
> style of game. In fact, if you look at the community's idea of the  
> history of ARG's they would even define the beginning as stemming  
> from "The Beast" not because it was the first, but because it was  
> THEIR first ARG.
>
> The reality is that [EGO ALERT  ;) ] Blair Witch Project had all  
> the elements we commonly refer to as an ARG, but because the phrase  
> wasn't coined at the time, and the UF community didn't form out of  
> the BW community, it is called into question. Here is some of what  
> BW had when it was live:
>
> 1. Fractured interactive narrative with a central mystery for the  
> audience to work through, presented in what we now call an ARG format.
> 2. "Real time" presentation of the story online, which changed and  
> grew based on audience reactions and responses.
> 3. Hidden journal pages, "Heather's Journal" that players  
> collaborated to find and piece together, revealing more of the story.
> 4 A massively huge community that built out the world and took the  
> story in directions we never anticipated.
>
> I would say the difference between Blair Witch and AotH is that BW  
> took place on a much larger scale, and so the game element FELT  
> like it was in the background because it was overshadowed by the  
> book, the comics, the tv special, all the hype, and of course the  
> film itself.
>
> But here is an even bigger difference -- the community that  
> surrounded BW (which is world-wide, still active and still quite  
> large), probably would not identify themselves as "gamers" even  
> though they actively and passionately played the game.
>
> And there lies the potential direction for the future of ARGs, in  
> my opinion -- there are much larger audiences to create for and  
> play to than Unfiction, but it will require designers looking at  
> the projects way outside what the UF community prefers or even  
> wants. It requires designers to actively decide to engage an  
> audience that's not necessarily already formed, with its own set of  
> tastes.
>
> If I want to play Jazz, I'm not going to go on a tour of punk rock  
> clubs and play to those audiences, but I'm going to try and find  
> where my audience is and go get them to listen. When I want to play  
> punk rock, I'm going to go to the punk clubs.
>
> The danger is in trying to play jazz that appeals to the punk  
> rockers -- more than likely you will create something unsatisfying  
> for both audiences.
>
> Best,
>
> Mike
> __________
> haxan | films | http:// 
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