[arg_discuss] Social Interaction in ARGs

[Mike Monello]

On 6/25/08 11:05 PM, "Christy Dena" <cdena at cross-mediaentertainment.com> wrote:

It seems you use the term roleplay as including all participation in a
game or theatre. This is why you, and others, reacted to the idea of
'no roleplay'. I think using the term 'roleplay' to denote something
that occurs in every game is redudant.


I do not consider "roleplay" to be an accurate description of all participation in a game. Many players play games on Unfiction, where, as someone said, the game is treated as a game and not an "alternate reality." When players speculate on the characters and what the characters might do, talk about story elements, and generally discuss the game as if it were any other piece of media, then they are clearly not roleplaying, and many players only experience games this way.

But many players do roleplay and interact with the fictional characters of a game. I don't recognize your requirement for a "fleshed out personality" because, well that's a lot to ask of most movies these days, let alone a player of a game, but I would argue that fleshed-out personalities that are separate from player's actual personalities do emerge in ARGs.

Let me use an example from H3ist to illustrate.

The main character, Nisha, put out the call for help on a mission in Chicago. One player, "Lou," was not selected to help Nisha on this mission. He sent an email to another character, Ian:

To: Ian
From: Lou
Date: June 3, 2005 7:40 PM
Subject: Re: chicago

Ian,

Nisha shot me down and denied my application to participate in the
Chicago op, saying she had a full team.  Earlier this week, after
hearing that recruitment was low, I changed my travel plans, and I
made plans to stick around in Chicago for an extra day, so I could be
here for Saturday's op.  Now that I've been rejected, I'm stuck here
in Chicago until Sunday, with nothing to do on Saturday night.

So, perhaps I could be of some use to you.  Catch my drift?  We both
know Gunter is crazy and may be thinking about retribution for Nisha's
visit to his mom.  And let's not forget Virgil's volatile streak as of
late.

I never sent Nisha a picture, so she wouldn't know to look for me.  If
you can come up with the location, I'd be happy to attempt to
infiltrate/observe the op and report back to you.  We'd just need to
set up counter-mission parameters.

Sound like we could come to an agreement?

Thanks
Lou


Lou has inserted himself into H3ist's fictional world, referencing characters as real and even speaks the lingo of the universe -- "counter-mission parameters." Lou became a central part of that operation and a beloved player-character (by both the audience and the PMs). Many played the game, but Lou played a character, and no retelling of the story of H3ist would be complete without Lou as a character, not just as a player.

So I do recognize that some players are just players and some players actually roleplay and become characters in the story themselves.

I've got examples of situations in which I've taken actions in staged
imaginary situations. But how much of the play was centered on that
experience? That is, was the process of making character-based
decisions the primary characteristic of the game, a primary part of
the experience?

I would say that everyone who participated in a live mission on H3ist was roleplaying, and that was absolutely central to the game.


Is this what appeals to players of ARGs? Can ARGs be
played without player-created characters with fleshed out
personalities?

That is a much trickier question and I don't have enough experience to answer it, but I can say that right now I'm involved with an interactive narrative that was initially perceived as an "ARG" despite lacking what many players would consider central elements to the genre, and when the ARG players were faced with a challenge that required roleplay rather than cracking a puzzle to further the story, they did not like it one bit, so I also recognize that the roleplay in an ARG is quite different from what might traditionally be seen as "roleplay."

How's that for making a point and then completely contradicting myself in the same message?

Best,

Mike