[arg_discuss] Accounting for Player Disruption?

[Dan Hon]

This is something that I really do wish the ARG genre/audience would  
grow up and accept.

I realise that there are issues with media literacy, but people don't  
expect that everything they read in a book is true, and similarly for  
television, movies and radio.

On the one hand, there are certain things that producing an ARG as a  
hoax, or one that follows the 'this is not a game' philosophy brings  
you, but then there are a whole bunch of things that not following  
that philosophy brings you as well. Whether your game reveals itself  
as hoax-like or not shouldn't either add or detract to it being part  
of this new genre.

Rant over.

--
Dan Hon, CEO, Six to Start
m: +44 7870 600 828
t: +44 33 3340 7490, f: +44 33 3340 7494




On 14 Mar 2008, at 00:50, Mark Heggen wrote:


> *** clarification ***

>

> Jane McGonigal didn't really say anything like "Meanwhile, we will  

> be over

> here playing this really great Big Mac ad. Your call." in a press  

> release

> for her latest project. I just meant to imply that through the very  

> act of

> issuing a press release explaining who was involved in the project she

> communicated something along those lines. Also, there are plenty of  

> other

> examples of being straight-forward at the same time as maintaining a  

> tight

> fiction. Her example is just a new one that came to mind.

>

>

> _Mark Heggen

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 8:45 PM, Mark Heggen <markheggen at gmail.com>  

> wrote:

>

>> 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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>>>

>>> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

>>>

>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

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>>

>>

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