[arg_discuss] New Topic of the Week Aug. 7: ARG SIG Conference

[O'Donnell, Dean M]

Hey all,

I went to ARGFest 2008 because it was local to me.  I'd glanced around Unfiction, but wasn't part of the community.  I found a welcoming group, and interesting panels and activities.  So much so, that I got involved at the unfiction forums and flew across the country for ARGFest 2009.  

This year at GDC I went to the ARG SIG meeting and found it sparsely attended by mostly academics (like myself).  I asked then, "Why isn't the ARG community here?"  I was told they mostly go to SXSW.  Yet at GDC this year I counted at least 5 talks/panels that were about ARGs or ARG-related stuff, whereas in previous years maybe there was one.

The general comments on Twitter (ah, how Twitter has changed communication at conferences) during ARGFest this year was that the presenters didn't need to explain ARGs to the ARGFest crowd.  That some of the talks were for investors rather than the "community."  Also (and you'll remember this, Andrea) while sitting around Friday night some of us did an informal poll, asking everyone passing by the lobby area what ARGs they'd played in the past year.  Most people we asked hadn't played any (granted this was an unscientific poll).  That seemed to be a theme, as I kept asking all weekend, and the people at ARGFest had played ARGs in the past, weren't active anymore, but still knew and hung out with the unfiction community.  So here was an ARG conference full of people who didn't play ARGs.  What the heck was going on?  Have they gone on to making ARGs?  Some yes, mostly no.  They just like the people.

I was very confused by this.  

I kept asking questions at the panels (maybe too many, but hey, I like a fake moustache as much as the next guy) about game design because everyone was talking about storytelling.  I got a lot of comments about hating puzzles, about outsourcing puzzles, and a lot of talking around telling stories without actually talking about what players do during these experiments.  The GDC talks were all about bringing mechanics out of the computer and into the world.  They weren't concerned with story at all.

It seems to me there are disparate communities within the ARG world who don't really talk to each other.  A lot of the PMs at ARGFest seem to come from film, so wouldn't even think about being part of IGDA and getting on this list.  

It would seem like an ARG SIG conference's goal (if you're looking for one) would be bringing these communities together to talk to each other and learn from each other.

Best,
Dean

____________________________________________
Dean O’Donnell     Associate Director,
Interactive Media and Game Development
Dept. of Humanities and Arts   WPI
dodo at wpi.edu
Phone: 508-831-5947
Fax: 508-831-5932


________________________________________
From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Andrea Phillips [deusexmachinatio at gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 11:02 AM
To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG
Subject: [arg_discuss] New Topic of the Week Aug. 7: ARG SIG Conference

I've just pulled the survey down -- not because of the ongoing
discussion, which I think has been great to have, but because I got a
gentle notice from the powers that be in the IGDA explaining a bit
about finances, the upshot being that the cities on the list are all
probably too expensive for the modest event we're looking at doing for
right now. Apologies to all of you for jumping the gun, and I'll take
all the blame on this one. Sorry. (But thank you to the few dozen
people who had already done the survey, you're the best!)

I think we should keep talking about this, though, and I'll even
announce next week's topic a little early: So yeah, an ARG conference.
What do you want out of such a thing? What panels or presentations or
events do you wish we could have? What speakers? Would you prefer an
unconference format? Do you even want another conference, or do you
agree that ARGfest is (or should be) the alpha and omega?

--
Andrea Phillips
http://www.aaphillips.com
AIM: Andrh1a * Skype: Andrhia
Words * Culture * Interaction
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