[arg_discuss] Topic of the Week July 20: Designer Responsibilities to the Public

[Andrea Phillips]

This isn't on the list of upcoming topics on the wiki, but this was
something that I found myself blathering about a lot at ARGfest this
weekend. I thought I'd bring it to the list.

We've talked about our responsibilities and ethical guidelines on the
list before, mainly in terms of what we owe the players. But we're
putting material out there in the real world, and it's possible --
even likely -- that somebody who isn't a player, doesn't know anything
about ARGs, and has no reason to doubt your credibility will stumble
into a piece of your game and think it's real.

One example: In Routes, we made up a couple of fictional websites for
pharmaceutical companies, and we did a little nail-biting over what
'advanced treatments' we had this company working on. Could we talk
about our fictional success with gene therapy to treat Parkinson's?
What if a person with Parkinson's came upon our site via Google and
thought it was real? We decided there was an ethical problem there.

There are other examples that spring to mind, too -- most notably
innocent bystanders who might witness something terrifying and call
the police that turns out to be a live event for a game.

So how do you manage these risks? What do you consider your
responsibilities to the public at large?

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