[arg_discuss] ARG_Discuss Digest, Vol 13, Issue 9

[Jennifer Nicole Chiment]

> This presents an interesting ethical principle -  what if our fiction is

> /too/ believable? If we say "TINAG" and they /believe/ us? A game which

> involves some religious facet - some cult that holds mysterious knowledge,

> or whatever - which somebody actually ends up adopting?

>

> Is it possible to go too far, in other words? Where are they grey areas,

> the slippery slopes?



Interesting...my graduate work (antrhopology) focused on fringe religious
movements, and I've stayed in touch with the scholarly "religious studies"
community so forgive my rambling here. :)

The adoption of fictional elements (elements "known" to be fictional by
participants that is) into active religious movements isn't new.  The one
that springs immediately to mind is the Church of All Worlds which drew
heavily on the book "Stranger in a Strange Land".  But there are others. 
In fact, some have become pretty popular/powerful (not that I'm pointing
fingers at Mr. Hubbard's initial recruits of course) ;)

One very recent example of a TINAG attitude being picked up and adopted by
the public is seen in the "what do you mean the DaVinci Code isn't real?"
scenario.  Actually, that's a good example of the phenomenon on a wider
scale...people read the book and somehow decided that it represented, if
not reality, at last a pretty believable historical picture.  And so Opus
Dei has been fielding calls about their "evil assassin wacky religion
stuff", and historical sites across Europe have been flooded by tourists
looking for the elements mentioned in the book, and religion/history profs
are faced with students who insist on the facts as given in the book.  But
I don't know that many people would argue that the author had gone too
far, or that he has an obligation to disabuse his fans of their beliefs.

Of course, an ARG is more interactive and more ACTIVE.  I'm not sure what
would have happened if the DaVinci Code demanded or expected a certain
action on the part of the reader.  Perhaps the adoption of the TINAG
elements of the Blair Witch Project by fans comes closer to what might
happen in a classic ARG.  But again, outside of some tourist hassles for
the town named in the film and a few hikers lost in the woods looking for
the witch...there wasn't much of a hue and cry about deception.

It would depend on the sort of religious organization presented in the
game, and in the sort of action expected of players/participants, but I
would imagine a reaction similar to those above.  Either the encorporation
of elements into an existing religious movement (like Church of All
Worlds), the creation of a new religious movement (Discordians, or perhaps
Scientology), or a relatively small scale social disruption along the
lines of DaVinci Code or Blair Witch.  One game I worked on provided email
addys for a number of real government organizations mixed in with "game"
email addys.  A few players wound up emailing the white house with "game
related" questions...both nothing happened.  :)

That said, I know we had planned to include some sort of "shadow religion"
into an ARG...but then 9/11 happened and it just didn't seem wise to
create a game with an "evil shadow religion" in the background.  So while
there may not be a legal "too far", there could certainly be a social or
ethical "too far" akin to being in bad taste.

Fun topic!  And thanks for letting me ramble...

Clay
-- 
"In complete stillness, a stone girl is dancing"