[arg_discuss] Social Interaction in ARGs

[Christy Dena]

Ah, you keep pulling me in! :) Great! And thanks Steffen, I look forward to reading your work. :)

I think the divergence in views about this subject is not about academic versus non-academic perspectives, but is due to different paradigms about 'roleplaying'. There have been many references here to roleplay as a type of performance, where players take on some role in an ARG, they have a function, are part of the fiction. I believe this view of roleplay is a discussion about *participation*. But there is another paradigm for talking about 'roleplay', and that is the genre of role-playing games. In this paradigm, the discussion is about participating through characters. I think the second paradigm is a subset of the first. For me, I wasn't talking about whether players participate in an ARG (that is a given), I was talking about one of the ways that participation is actuated: through the creation of characters. 

I do think there are great differences in the design and experience of role-playing versus non-playing games, and a difference between role-playing in ARGs compared to role-playing in other games (and other creative formats). 
Here is the wikipedia definition of a 'role-playing game' (RPG):

"A role-playing game (RPG; often roleplaying game) is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters and collaboratively create or follow stories."

But perhaps more helpful, is this definition by MMORPG researcher Nick Yee, who defines 'role-playing' as:

"creating a novel persona for your character that fits in the context of the game world and interacting with others through that persona"

Source: Nick Yee's research series on Role-Playing in MMORPGs (http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001524.php). In Yee's research on the 'Faces of Role-Playing' (http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001526.php), he found that there is a 'spectrum of character personas' that players create; and 'there's a spectrum of character development that might be labeled as Prescribed to Open-Ended'. Yee spoke about the 'Protocols of Role-Playing' (http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001527.php?page=1) and in the demographics (http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001525.php), how many players create backstories for their own characters, and for their fellow players' characters as well (among other things).

I think ARGs do not have the same role-playing as MMORPGs, and they do not have the same as theatre productions. There are many similiarites of course, but there are differences. I'll hazard some questions that may provoke some insights into what these differences are: 

* Is creating a character a requirement to playing (or just participating in) an ARG?
* How many characters in ARGs are prescribed by the PMs & how many created by the player? (what happens when a player creates their own character?)
* How many player-characters in ARGs have a (PM or player-created) backstory?
* How many player-characters in ARGs have constructed relationships with other player-creators?
...

But the biggest difference perhaps lies in the need to create a "character that fits in the context of the game". To me, most ARGs include current-time Earth, indeed the player's reality, in the context of the game. That is why they do not NEED to create a novel persona...

For those interested, there are some great essays on RPGs in Jason Rutter's Game Bibliography: http://digiplay.info/search/node/RPGs. 

I look forward your thoughts... :)



On 6/24/08, Wendy Despain <wendeth at wendydespain.com> wrote:

> I'm with you, Mike. I think as soon as a player treats a character as

> real, which they know (or suspect) to be a fictional construct of some

> kind, that puts them in the realm of roleplay. They're placing their

> own persona into the game.

>

> Also, I don't think there's really any difference between a person

> playing an Orc (or Shakespeare) and themselves. The vast majority of

> players are not skilled enough to behave in any manner other than

> their own, if that makes sense. And this isn't bashing the player's

> skill levels - it's an observation of how rare real acting talent is.

> So even though the Orc mask may give them permission to loosen up and

> not worry so much about what other people might think - they're still

> essentially being themselves.

>

> But I'll provide the same caveat as Mike as well. I'm no academic. So

> I may just be missing the point.

>

> Wendy

>

>

> On Mon, June 23, 2008 7:53 am, Mike Monello wrote:

>> 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!

>>>

>>

>>

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>

>

> Wendy Despain

> quantumcontent.com

>

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