[arg_discuss] Competitions with prizes and ARGs

[Christy Dena]

Thanks David and Dan -- and any forthcoming others.

Dan, yeah, that is why I'm wondering why a prize is offered at all. The
experiences stand on their own but there is obviously something you get out
of offering a prize. Publicity is one obviously, but are there players that
you think will only join in if a prize is there? I mean, a reward is good,
but that is different to prize which is defined at the beginning as a
motivation. I'm wondering too if there is a cost...not financial...in
appealing to players that are attracted to a competition-type game? Or are
you finding that they're pretty much settling into a collaborative dynamic
and forgetting about the competition side pretty quickly as David mentioned?

BTW, props for We Tell Stories. I'm a big fan of the approach that has a
somewhat conventional artform as an entry-point to a deeper ARG experience.


-----Original Message-----
From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [mailto:arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org] On
Behalf Of Dan Hon
Sent: Wednesday, 2 April 2008 21:47
To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG
Subject: Re: [arg_discuss] Competitions with prizes and ARGs

I think it's a relatively 'cheap' way of getting PR - cf Perplex City,  
but I'd like to (and do) believe that the games stand on their own now.

For We Tell Stories, we're finding that the prize really doesn't  
matter. The experience that we've designed (especially with 21 Steps)  
has been far more successful than the (admittedly totally awesome)  
prize that we're offering, even though the prize is only available to  
UK residents.

--
Dan Hon, CEO, Six to Start
m: +44 7870 600 828
t: +44 33 3340 7490, f: +44 33 3340 7494




On 2 Apr 2008, at 10:09, Christy Dena wrote:


> Hey All,

>

>

>

> There are lots of things I've been wanting to ping the list about,  

> but here

> is a quick one:

>

>

>

> There have been some ARGs and ARG-like projects that are  

> competitions with

> prizes. For example: Perplex City, Vanishing Point, Legend of the  

> Sacred

> Urns, We Tell Stories. Obviously the ARG can function without the  

> prize, but

> the fact that it is there, is undeniable and constrains gameplay to  

> some

> extent (due to legal restrictions). And sometimes the prize is  

> something a

> client is after rather than the developer. But I'm wondering:

>

>

>

> *	Is offering a prize purely a way to lure newcomers and/or casual

> gamers?

> *	And do they find it successfully achieves that, or something else?

>

>

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Christy

>

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