[arg_discuss] Social Interaction in ARGs

[Mike Monello]

I am the furthest thing from an academic you can get, but it seems to me that when a player knowingly interacts with a fictional character they have crossed the threshold into role-playing. Whether they send an email or
go on a mission or more involved experience, they have made that jump into the game space, even if the character they've chosen is a close version of themselves. I don't recognize a difference between someone playing a character exactly like themselves in a known fiction and someone playing an Orc or any other fantastical creature - both are operating within the safety and knowledge of a fictional framework that allows them to make choices and play in a way that real life absolutely would not.

Either that or I've totally missed what y'all smart folks are talkin' about!  :)

---
Mike Monello
Partner, Campfire
http://www.campfirenyc.com







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!

>