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

[Andrea Phillips]

I won't be there, but I'd really love to read your paper. It sounds
like something we'd be interested in linking from ARGology.org,
assuming it's available online.


On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 4:21 PM, Hugh Davies<marcus.helm at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ive been lurking on this thread and ones like it for a while.

> I have to say, I agree completely with Brian on this one.

>

> I'm currently researching ethics of Pervasive and Alternate reality games

> experiences on participants and by standers for my masters research and im

> delivering a Paper on the subject at ISEA in Belfast next month. Is anyone

> going to be there?

>

> Anyway, without presenting the whole thing here i conclude the paper with

> something like:

>

> If we are to weight the ethics of presenting these works in public spaces,

> would that not require us to question all experiences and messages found in

> public places from media journalism, political and religious statements and

> perhaps most importantly, omnipresent advertising? Should these messages

> also be scrutinized for any potential or actual ontological confusion they

> inspire?

>

> Everyday reality is constructed and mediated, changing but constant. The

> artists behind these works can momentarily peel back the corners of our

> shared and assembled real, allowing us to question the motives of those who

> create it. These works invite audiences to critically engage with

> *all*reality, but neither the works nor artists themselves can topple

> the real.

> In fearing that they could, we misjudge both their agency and the aims.

> Hugh

>

>

> On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Andrea Phillips <deusexmachinatio at gmail.com

>> wrote:

>

>> This makes me think of the Trust-E icon for the web: verifying things

>> that are true rather than flagging things that are fictional. You'd

>> think that verification systems like that would be a big deal, but in

>> practice hardly anybody notices the thing. Just like most people

>> probably don't notice the little lock icon in their web browser that

>> indicates their SSL connection is working properly. If people don't

>> immediately know what something means, they kind of tune it out...

>>

>> Going back to the original question: I really don't know what I think

>> our responsibilities are in presenting our fictional worlds. Some

>> general rules of thumb seem obvious to me... "Don't put a street

>> address on a website unless it's a place you are prepared for players

>> to turn up," springs to mind. But that's the intersection of virtual

>> and physical, and I think requires more careful management for many,

>> many reasons.

>>

>> And the internet is a messy, disreputable place, so you could argue

>> that the person who stumbles onto a fictional website and takes it as

>> real is merely in the process of learning a Valuable Lesson About The

>> Internet. ...probably in a kinder way than it would otherwise be

>> delivered, too.

>>

>> But what I really want to do is sort of grope around for the edges of

>> what seems OK to most people and what doesn't. It may be there's no

>> consensus to find, but the mere act of picking up the subject and

>> seeing what it does when we poke at it... that's an important process.

>>

>>

>> On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 1:37 AM, Wendy Despain<wendeth at wendydespain.com>

>> wrote:

>> > I think this idea of an icon - universal across many (ideally, all)

>> > ARG-like things on the web is brilliant. I'd use it on my projects.

>> >

>> > Wendy Despain

>> > quantumcontent.com

>> >

>> >

>> > On Wed, July 22, 2009 5:04 am, Brian Clark wrote:

>> >> I'd be happy to use that icon ... once advertisers, public relations

>> >> experts

>> >> and politicians agree to use it as well. May I suggest a "May Contain

>> >> More

>> >> than 40% Fiction"?

>> >>

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

>> >> From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org

>> >> [mailto:arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org] On

>> >> Behalf Of D B Wall

>> >> Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 5:45 PM

>> >> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG

>> >> Subject: Re: [arg_discuss] Topic of the Week July 20:

>> >> DesignerResponsibilities to the Public

>> >>

>> >> I'm curious this group's reaction to a simple thought... as icons

>> >> associated

>> >> with certain connected/web2.0/social media/whatever you choose to call

>> >> it

>> >> efforts have become conventions in UI design over the past few years,

>> >> I

>> >> wonder if a simple, universal icon representing fictional realities on

>> >> public facing materials could be established with similar effect.

>> >> Twitter,

>> >> Facebook, RSS, digg, even USB, and the power on button have effective,

>> >> well-adopted and unobtrusive icons. Why can't ARGs?

>> >>

>> >>

>> >> On Monday, July 20, 2009, at 10:10AM, "Andrea Phillips"

>> >> <andrhia at gmail.com>

>> >> wrote:

>> >>>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

>> >>>_______________________________________________

>> >>>ARG_Discuss mailing list

>> >>>ARG_Discuss at igda.org

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

>> >>>

>> >>>

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>> >

>> >

>> > Wendy Despain

>> > quantumcontent.com

>> >

>> > _______________________________________________

>> > ARG_Discuss mailing list

>> > ARG_Discuss at igda.org

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

>> >

>>

>>

>>

>> --

>> Andrea Phillips

>> http://www.aaphillips.com

>> AIM: Andrh1a * Skype: Andrhia

>> Words * Culture * Interaction

>> _______________________________________________

>> ARG_Discuss mailing list

>> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

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

>>

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