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

[Hugh Davies]

Id be happy for that
It will be available online after August.
hugh

On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 5:01 PM, Andrea Phillips <deusexmachinatio at gmail.com

> wrote:



> 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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> >> >>

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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

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