[arg_discuss] Accounting for Player Disruption?

[Mark Heggen]

Ivan_

Interesting question and you are wise to be cautious about coming down with
an iron first, or conversely letting bozos run wild over your story.

One thing to keep in mind: essentially no one actually plays these things
without realizing what they are. Players are almost always totally aware (on
some level) that the conversation they are having with a kidnapper is really
a promo for a new candy bar or whatever. At the end of the day, this
awareness that Fox is paying for your game isn't going to run it for a vast
majority of the kind of people who will be playing along anyways. So while
you don't want a lot of obnoxious spam (of any sort) mucking up your boards,
I would say that spam explaining the business plan of the game is actually
far less damaging than we tend to imagine.

I can think of three reasons that players aren't all that bothered by "this
isn't real guys, its just for Pepsi" talk. First; that is how most ARGs have
worked. Players would actually be much more surprised and stunned if they
never heard that kind of meta discussion going on. People just don't feel so
shocked at being "used" or "duped" by this type of advertising any more,
particularly in the ARG world.

Second; people are amazingly good at enjoying a story without getting bogged
down in the metafictional consequences. Our brains are just good at that.
When Zack from Saved By the Bell freezes time and talks directly to us about
his classmates, we don't get confused. Seconds after the jerk in your game
tells everyone that they are playing a game made by Fox, almost all those
people will have no problem immediately returning back into the fictional
world of your plot.

Third: it is actually quite comforting to know on some level that you are
taking part in a controlled fictional experience. That way you don't have to
actually call the police when a character goes missing or witnesses a crime.
It is fun to get creepy cryptic emails from strangers when you actually know
that this is all a game. It is far less enjoyable to get creepy emails from
genuine strangers.

I guess that some small percentage of players would actually be upset by a
reminder that they are being feed advertisements, but a huge majority of
people (especially the people who will likely be playing your game) don't
really care. They are just there for the free content. All this is assuming
that your client is a typical brand that people are familiar and somewhat
comfortable with. I guess if Blackwater USA or the Earth Liberation Front is
paying for your game, things get more complicated.

In closing, maybe look to Jane McGonigal's latest project for guidance? She
is working with McDonald's (a brand that plenty of people dislike or at
least make jokes about) but after some initial mystery she just came right
out with a press release and said something to the effect of; I am making a
game with McDonald's and the Olympics. If you play, you will be taking part
in a Big Mac ad. If that is a problem then sorry. Meanwhile, we will be over
here playing this really great Big Mac ad. Your call.

Well handled if you ask me.


_Mark Heggen







On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 7:41 PM, <libfli at aol.com> wrote:


> hey Ivan,

>

>

>

> it has been my experience that players (or audience) usually handle this

> very well by themselves.  players usually reign in anyone who tramples down

> this path.  i recently created a storyworld and forum to promote a film.

>  when it was announced to the press that this was for a promotion the

> character's blog as well as the forum had many "this is fake" & "this is for

> Fox" messages.  the character i created ignored some of the more obnoxious

> postings.. but there were a few posts that she did address.  she was able to

> address these questions directly because she was created to be a part of the

> audience.  she too questioned what was going on... so, for this project, it

> was solved by design.   the audience did a great job coming to the aid of

> this character they were so fond of.. it was like someone was messing with a

> friend.  in another game i had a stalker.  this stalker was madly infatuated

> with my evil character and sent hundreds and hundreds of emails and phone

> messages telling him he knew he was a fake character but still wanted to

> talk with him or meet him.  my evil character scoffed at the idea that he

> was "a fake"...  because the characters in our alternate realities really

> don't know that they exist only within a work of fiction.  hope that helps.

>

>

>

>

> best

>

> Jan

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Ivan Askwith <iaskwith at MIT.EDU>

> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG <arg_discuss at igda.org>

> Sent: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 4:06 pm

> Subject: [arg_discuss] Accounting for Player Disruption?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> I was wondering if anyone, either from experience or untested theories,

> might have advice on how PMs can handle or be prepared for disruptive

> participants.

>

>

> Has anyone found particularly good ways of dealing with players (or

> trolls) who post comments on in-game blogs or forums with comments like

> "THIS IS JUST A GAME," or "THIS IS A PROMOTION FOR X"?

>

>

> It seems like a behavior that it's important to be respectful of -- or

> rather, that it could be dangerous to censor -- but you also don't want

> those sorts of comments destroying interest in the game for players who are

> trying to play along.

>

>

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