[arg_discuss] TOW: almost 8 years after the Beast, which is your favourite ARG and why?

[Brian Clark]

Brooke wrote: "However, I also think that you're looking at it with more of
an agency eye."

I don't think so, I'm just looking at it from the combination of press
coverage (including ARGN) and what Unfiction chooses to get involved in.

I do totally get what you're saying, though, Brooke -- I guess I just feel
that was a battle the community needed to take arms to in 2006 before the
definition cemented or devolved. In practice, the semantics of ARG have
become so broad and undefined that chickens probably can't be returned to
the coop. A good example of that is Markus' suggestion of "Eagle Eye" as an
ARG -- for me, something that you play by yourself on a cellphone in 10
minutes doesn't meet enough of the undefinitions of ARG. /shrug

I've been in too many of those semantic wars over the last decade and a
half: they are hard to make a dent in if you don't enter the fray until too
late.

-----Original Message-----
From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [mailto:arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org] On
Behalf Of Brooke Thompson
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 8:51 PM
To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG
Subject: Re: [arg_discuss] TOW: almost 8 years after the Beast,which is your
favourite ARG and why?

On Jan 13, 2009, at 5:54 PM, Dan Hon wrote:

and

On 13 Jan 2009, at 21:59, Brian Clark wrote

A whole bunch of stuff that I agree with.

However, I also think that you're looking at it with more of an agency  
eye. Lately, the majority of assumptions that I'm getting are not  
"evil viral marketing" or "Dark Knight/Year Zero/I love Bees" but  
revolve around  urban play. I assume that's because I've been talking  
to people more about urban play, mobile, and installation pieces than  
I have been about online marketing experiences.

So, my question is, I guess, if we're in agreement that there's a heck  
of a lot more to ARGs than marketing and 42e-type experiences - and  
those are things that we're feeling drawn to play with, doesn't it  
behoove us to use the term in order to make it more clear what an ARG  
is? Or, do we just have to keep coming up with new meaningless phrases  
that we pretend have more meaning because it has more adequate  
descriptors in it, unless we just fall back on "ARG-like"

I mean there's a heck of a lot more to ARGs than promotional work that  
includes an asian girl calling out for help to solve some cryptic  
mystery with esoteric puzzles ... and I don't think that makes them  
"ARG-like".


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