[arg_discuss] Deception and what it means to be Real

[Nathan Mishler]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. As I addressed this sort of at the bottom of
my spiel in small type. There is a difference! Sort of. I mostly agree with
you on intent and the social contract between players and puppetmasters.
While players (arg, mmo) are usually encouraged to put on masks and go into
what we often call the "magic circle" and the puppetmasters are not supposed
to come out of the circle.
What I was trying to point out is that in ARGs there is a potential problem
- where does the magic circle end? In an MMO it's REALLY obvious - I close
the window. How do I leave an ARG? Turn off my phone? Step away from email?
Eh, though I realize in saying that I am sidestepping an obvious point -
Unfiction has really big THIS IS OUT OF GAME signs everywhere. So really, on
a practical level, dude shouldn't have done that.
Personally I don't like the trickery angle either. The thing is, people
really can suspend disbelief and care about characters they know aren't
real. Look at any movie/book with a big following. So the "Oh I am one of
you - psyche! I AM NOT REAL" bit just seems tacky. What I'd love to see is
someone do the same thing, but say outright that this character isn't "real"
Not on argnet, of course, or unfiction - but somewhere. Could you introduce
a completely (and obviously) fictional character into a community and have
them be accepted, then lead that community into a game?

On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 5:56 PM, Brooke Thompson <brooke at giantmice.com>wrote:


> So, do you not think that there is a difference between people adapting an

> online persona (fictional or otherwise) and creating a fictional persona and

> placing them into a community in order to later be a part of a larger

> fictional project (ie PixelVixen707 & the game bloggers for PE:DA or Martin

> Aggett & the ARG community for a not yet launched project).

>

> To me, there is a difference and that is based in the intent behind it. In

> the case of the aforementioned MUD player, Karyn, it never extended beyond

> her single story and, for all we know, the death was a way of giving up the

> game. In the case of Martin Aggett, the intent was to infiltrate the

> community for a larger purpose and a larger story and game. And, as people

> consider Karyn to be a "hoax", if these things are similar or, even, the

> same - does that mean that when designers spend time creating and nurturing

> an online history complete with relationships before the experience launches

> in full are perpetuating a hoax?

>

> And, while breaking the UF TOS is bad! and wrong! and full of fail! it is

> not all that unusual. Though, this is the first time (at least in my memory

> and to my knowledge) that it was done by a character months before the

> project would be live in order to infiltrate the community. It is usually

> done by as a way for someone to help players struggling through a puzzle or

> plot element. Players can usually quickly figure out who those folks are,

> alert a mod/admin who can match IPs and do other research, and it's dealt

> with quickly and easily (with the occasional cry of "it was my brother! I

> left my computer on the page and he thought it would be funny! i'll beat him

> up so it never happens again! I promise! just don't ban me!"). In this case,

> it went beyond that and was an effort to become involved in the community. I

> am not surprised (or upset) that it happened. But I do think that this is a

> different case - again, because of the intent behind it.

>

>

>

>

>

> On Jun 18, 2009, at 4:36 PM, Nathan Mishler wrote:

>

>  This sort of thing does happen all the time. And sometimes we never know.

>> For instance, here's a great article from Raph Koster about a memorial

>> service held in a MUD for a player that had died.

>> http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/essay1.shtml

>> And then it's not until more than five years later they learn that person

>> never really existed at all, at least how they knew the person.

>> http://www.raphkoster.com/2003/04/14/revisiting-the-garden-of-remembrance/

>> Kind of part of the treacherous nature of this space, I think. People

>> generally wear at least one mask when they come into these spaces. How

>> many

>> people annouce their real names in unfiction? And puppetmasters often

>> encourage people to put on some other layers and present themselves as

>> different than they really are in game spaces.

>>

>

>

>  On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Andrea Phillips <

>> deusexmachinatio at gmail.com

>>

>>>

>>> We live in a time when your public and online representation of

>>> yourself doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with who you are,

>>> really. On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog, right?

>>>

>>

>

>

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-- 
Nathan Mishler
Studio Cypher, LLC
"Curious Games for Curious People"
http://www.twitter.com/StudioCypher
(812) 361-5981