[arg_discuss] Social Interaction in ARGs

[Hugh Davies]

Hi all

Im just catching up on this discussion and just wanted to weigh in on the
idea of "playing/performing  a role"

I recon that this might be an example of Jane Mcgonigals notion of
Performance of Belief within the field of Pervasive Games. This is similar
to the suspension of disbelief associated with cinema audiences but more
active; while suspension of disbelief implies a tacit agreement of an
audience to defer their judgment and accept fiction as truth in exchange for
entertainment, performance of belief requires players to also become actors
not just spectators, performing within the reality of the game, thus
creating greater immersion both for themselves and for others.


Jane discusses the notion of performance of belief and give a brief history
of the credulous spectator here:



http://www.avantgame.com/MCGONIGAL%20A%20Real%20Little%20Game%20DiGRA%202003.pdf

Im also interested in Brians comment:


>From an experience design perspective, the ARG as developed is like a piece

of clothing lying on a table: it is only truly "as designed" once it is
being worn.

I think that there is a unique open sourceness to ARG's in that players
activly shape the game into the experience that that want to have, create
their own intruege and level of involvement. Im reminded of the horror
cinema technique of showing as little of the evil as possible to allow it to
individualise itself in the minds of each viewer.

hugh