[arg_discuss] Social Interaction in ARGs

[Steffen P. Walz]

hi christy & all,

not sure if this is helpful for the social interaction discussion:

for my ongiong phd thesis about the architecture of pervasive games  
(not yet completed, and tentatively titled "the ludic machine"),  
amongst other stuff, i put together an interlinked inventory of  
smallish essays / statements that discuss particular spatial  
archetypes which have some 'archaeological' value for pervasive game  
design - i call these entries "play-grounds".

one of these essays is concerned with the space of the "theatre" and  
the relation of the theatrical space to role-playing. for said essay,  
i have created a little matrix with two continua setting into  
relation space and performance mode, and plotted some examples into  
the grid:

1) 4th wall - Broken 4th Wall - i.e. from clear actor/spectator  
separation to actor-player identicalness;
2) Proscenium Theatre - Undefined space - i.e. from a strict  
demarcation of actor area and player area to an undefined performance  
space.

find a preliminary version of the text including the matrix here:

http://wiki.caad.arch.ethz.ch/Organisation/LudicMachine

hope this inspires the discussion - this may not be exactly on social  
interaction as discussed in the past postings, but may help to  
understand how historically, there have been attempts to involve an  
audience into a pre-programmed play. or so,-).

spw


Am 23.06.2008 um 04:50 schrieb Christy Dena:


> Cool. ARGs really are about performance in so many ways.

>

> But that still isn't the aspect of roleplay I was talking about. I'm

> after a definition that indicates how much the 'performance' of the

> player differs from their everyday self. There must be a continuum or

> something that shows the difference between a player performing an Orc

> or Shakespeare on the one end and being themselves but doing something

> they have never done before on the other (and all that is in between).

> [I don't have any of my books with me and am on short periods of

> dial-up and so can't research this myself right now.] Hmm, perhaps I

> shouldn't of put the draft up just yet after all. :\

>

> Anyway, I think ARG players are usually called on to do more on the

> 'other' end of the spectrum. But, I may be entirely wrong and so would

> love to know more. Jan sent me a great example of roleplaying in her

> ARG. I'd love to see others.

>

> John Evans has actually moved all of the content into the ARGology

> wiki. So, please, feel free to hack and add at will!:

>

> http://www.argology.org/wiki/index.php?title=Social_Interaction

>

> A start may be to add a quote from Jane's essay in the roleplay  

> section!

>

> OK, over and out. :)

>

> On 6/22/08, Hugh Davies <marcus.helm at gmail.com> wrote:

>> 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

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>>

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__
Steffen P. Walz
ETH Zurich
Game Design Research                        Department of Architecture
Phone +41 44 658 16 36                       CAAD Group, HIL E 15.1
E-Mail walz at arch.ethz.ch                     CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

http://spw.playbe.com (my playce)
http://wiki.caad.arch.ethz.ch/Organisation/SteffenPWalz (academic)