[arg_discuss] Introductions

[Alex Fleetwood]

Shh Dan... We are all decent law-abiding folk and friends of Westminster
City Council, and we'd like to keep it that way ta ;)
I suppose I should tell you the story properly. The Soho Project was an
experimental prototype commissioned by the London Games Festival Fringe as a
sort of ARG/pervasive gaming hybrid, which required people to go out and do
missions around Soho and film them. fictionalmedia.co.uk /
apps.facebook.com/thesohoproject. One of those missions was entitled
Highpoint Lowpoint - "Soho is home to some great architecture. Get in and
get up (or down). Get to the highest and lowest points of Soho that you can
reach. The video should start from ground level. "

We meant for people to reach these points via, you know, lifts, stairs, etc.
With permission of the owners of the building. Clearly our wording wasn't
rigorous enough...  That's all I'm going to say, except nothing was broken
and no-one got hurt, and the only reason I heard about it was via a friend
of a friend (ie they didn't submit the video to the game).

When creating the game, strived for a balance between inciting people to
have fun and be creative with the need for them to act responsibly
(disclaimers, waivers, sensibly worded missions, etc.). I think we got that
ok-  1 bit of silliness out of 70 completed missions is a reasonable figure
- but I do think that we have an awful lot to learn from this prototype if
we were going to run it again.  Once a game like ours goes beyond a certain
size, its inevitable that someone will wilfully misinterpret the rules of
the game and cause some kind of damage. How you mitigate and respond to a
situation like that takes some answering. Definitely something I'd be
interested in discussing with any interested folk.

Alex



On 12/11/2007, Dan Hon <dan at sixtostart.com> wrote:

>

> Yes, please explain!

>

> (this may be a close tie with the Fictional Media/Soho Project game a

> few weeks ago in London where a couple people got cautioned by the

> police...)

>

> On 11/12/07, Mike Stein <mike.j.stein at gmail.com> wrote:

> > "As a bonus, it almost got us arrested. (long story)"

> >

> > Wait... what?

> >

> > On Nov 12, 2007 6:54 AM, André Sirangelo <asirangelo at yahoo.com.br>

> wrote:

> >

> > > Hi,

> > >

> > > I'm Andre and I'm an ARG writer/developer in Brazil. I was in the

> > > development team of a game called 'Zona Incerta' last semester,

> produced in

> > > association with one of the country's best-selling magazine. It was

> great.

> > > We learned a lot. As a bonus, it almost got us arrested. (long story)

> > > Besides writing for a few magazines and websites, my work now is

> basically

> > > research and trying to convince companies (including my employers)

> that

> > > investing in alternate reality is a good idea. Can't wait to be part

> of a

> > > new game though, hopefully next year.

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >      Abra sua conta no Yahoo! Mail, o único sem limite de espaço para

> > > armazenamento!

> > > http://br.mail.yahoo.com/

> > > _______________________________________________

> > > ARG_Discuss mailing list

> > > ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> > > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

> > >

> >

> >

> >

> > --

> > Mike Stein

> > Grad Student - USC Interactive Media

> > 650.283.4623

> > mike.j.stein at gmail.com

> > _______________________________________________

> > ARG_Discuss mailing list

> > ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

> >

>

>

> --

> ** Please ask before forwarding this email.

> Dan Hon {dan at sixtostart.com}

> CEO, Six to Start

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