User talk:Imbri/workspace

To Do List

• Intro
• Common Features
• This Is Not A Game
• Before ARG
• Early Commercial Games
• Grassroots Development
• Experiments in Extended Reality
• Promotional Games
• The Search for Business Models
• Current trends in ARGs
• Related Games & Experiences
• Genre challenges
• Academic & Press attention
• See also
• References
• Introductory ARG resources
• Main resources
• Other relevant sites

Sections already edited into the existing article

• intro
• Concepts
  • Real World Media
  • Alternate Reality & TINAG
  • The Narrative Experience
  • Player Collaboration
  • Interaction
• Current Trends in ARGs
• External Links

Editing Notes

General

Feel free to do whatever. I created the sections on nothing other than my own gut. I also included games that I felt fit those sections as well as the bullet point from the existing article that fit that game.

Ehsan's edits and notes (9/10)

• I think the summary is the most imporatnt section, and thus the definition requires the most attention. It is highly quoted and usually our only chance to summarize the genre into a couple of sentences.
  • I removed 'cross-media' as it requires a definition in itself, and added a continuation to the sentence to explain it. The definition of ARG should be straightforward.
  • I'm taking the liberty of using terms such as 'group of players' in implying that ARGs are intended to be played by coherent 'groups' of players.
• As I'm doing this I'm removing terms which are common to ARGers but not so commonly used in general. An example of this is "blurs the line", what is the line, why is it blurred? A simple verb to replace this term is 'overlaps', and the more obscure phrase is moved to the detailed explanation below.
• Changed "common feature" to concept and combined it with the TINAG section by adding subsections.
  • Made a lot of changes to the concept, to expand on the summary basically and explain it by example. I'm trying to get each section to lead into the next (eg. narrative leads to formation of player groups and then explaning the collective nature). I took the high level structure from Sean's into to the beast.
  • added the Real World Media, Narrative Experience, Collaboration, Interaction, and TINAG as a key concepts.
• Sorry Imbri, I was going to fill in the missing sections but I ended up rewriting what was already there. Feel free to delete it all if I messed up :)

More Editing Notes from Phaedra

• I've started going through and making a few small grammar/spelling corrections, and doing a bit of minor sentence restructuring to help it flow better.
• In the TINAG section, do we want to talk about the meaning of TINAG that Sean Stewart cites on his website as part of their design philosophy for the Beast -- i.e. that the characters should be real people that you can interact with and form relationships with, and not "game pieces"?

Studio Cypher, Cathy's Book and edoc, etc.

• Okay, I obviously can give you summaries for edoc and Cathy's Book, but -- for obvious reasons -- I don't want to write the wiki sections on those. I don't think it'd be ethically appropriate. So, can I maybe give you bulleted summaries for each of them (and for Cathy, perhaps, some links to press describing the commercial tie-ins -- if I can find non-sensationalistic press on the subject) and someone else actually write the thing? I dunno, maybe it's a distinction without a difference, but I just wouldn't feel right actually writing sections on either of these.
  • I believe that *someone* at ARGN is getting an advanced copy of Cathy's book and she's also quite familiar with edoc - though I ran by what I included in the whitepaper by her and she said that I had hit it quite well. I'll try to condense what I wrote (it's far too long for the wiki) and if there's anything notable that's missing or misunderstood, perhaps you could make a suggestion of it on this editing page and various editors can take a look at it which should allow for appropriate neutrality. - Imbri 22:22, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
    • I'd completely forgotten about that. Awesome. I'll retreat back to my corner on this unless there ends up being something you want quick confirmation/clarification on. Phaedra777 16:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
• Will do proofread/edit-read-through and provide notes this weekend
• Unless you've got someone on hand who's actually playing Studio Cypher and is willing to write a paragraph on it, I'll do it
  • Okay, wrote a short blurb on Studio Cypher. I like the "Search for Business" models title, but should this section be tied together with some commentary on the success/failure of different models (insofar as any of us can determine at this point) so it's more than just a listing of what people have tried? If so, should I add in a comment to the effect that while Studio Cypher hasn't released any information about whether the game is a success as far as self-funding goes, but that player reaction to the two-tiered model has been mixed (some players feel that the free tier of participation is so limited as to not be a good inducement to move up to the paid level)? (We can cite both the ARGN article, and Studio Cypher Studio Cypher's own published thoughts on the matter.) Or do we want to leave any commentary on whether the self-funding models appear to be working out? Phaedra777 16:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
• I can maybe rewrite the paragraph on Jordan, RPGs and FASA. I dunno, I work with him at edoc and 42, but obviously I wasn't around at that time -- I don't think there's a conflict of interest there? As far as citations, there's Sean's comment on his site about ARGs being like running an RPG for some large number of your closest friends, but unfortunately I'm not finding any sources where Jordan or Sean or anyone says they based the idea on RPGs. I.e. citations can support a claim of similarity but not necessarily evolution. (I mean, you know it, I know it, I've heard Jordan say it, but I'm having trouble finding anything to cite.) I am going to reread some of Jane's writing tonight, however, and see if she's got any quotes or anything.
• In addition to Wizards of the Coasts' proto-ARGs (are we sure they were what we'd now identify as an ARG?), perhaps Bungie's Cortana letters should be mentioned?
  • I read up a bit on the Wizards of the Coasts stuff and do think that it should be included in early stuff. ThaJinx mentioned the Cortana letters to me as well and I think he's writing something up on that regard. You may want to talk to him about it. - Imbri 22:22, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
• As far as The Game, there are no real-world ARGs tied into the actual movie, but it is my understanding that the Mr. Gamer company provides similar real-life experiences? Phaedra777 16:02, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

What to Do about?

Extra stuff in the Timeline

There are a handful of things from the bulleted timeline list on the original article that have not been included in the draft of the new one. Are they notable? important? more so than the examples already listed?

• Acheron - Could you decide? Players were led on a rough and tumble adventure to locate Jake, a graduate assistant at New River University. Along the way, they discover a story of intrigue, time travel, and betrayal that caught everyone by surprise.
  • Acheron was -- from what I can tell not having played it myself -- a well-done game, but unless I'm missing something major, it's not outstanding for being influential, unusual, or exemplary of any particular type of ARG. I'd leave it out.Phaedra777 16:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

• In 2004, an independent Alternate Reality Game advertised the re-release DVD edition of the George Lucas movie THX1138. Created and moderated by VirtuQuest.com, the SEN5241 game took players through the post THX era in the underground world through the thoughts and actions of SEN5241. The main goal was to defeat OMM, the ruling entity of the THX world.

• January 2006, Brazilian magazine Superinteressante illustrates an article about ARGs with an ARG, that ended when the Orkut's profile of the "organizer" was found. In February, they made one again, but harder to discover (the website of the ARG was written in the magazine, but in Wingdings).
  • Doesn't give the name of the ARG, doesn't seem particularly notable (The East Bay Express did a mini-ARG/puzzle trail launched by its ILB article, for example), doesn't provide any info on the subject matter or anything that might give a good reason to include it; I'd say get rid of it. Phaedra777 16:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

• In July 2006, Centrodemagia.com released The Hunting To The Horcrux, a game based on the Harry Potter book series. In the game, the British Ministry of Magic discovers that one of the seven horcruxes had come to stop in Brazil. (the links are broken, can't even see what they are to explore further - imbri)
  • Other than the fact that it tied into a very popular book series, is there anything notable about this? I'd leave it out, especially since Googling both "hunting the horcrux" or "the hunting to the horcrux [sic]" returns, at most, two results. Whatever it was, it doesn't seem to have reached very many people. The centrodemagia site appears to have been taken down. Phaedra777 16:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

• In early September 2006, http://www.aperturescience.com/ was launched which is a website for Valve's upcoming game Portal (to be packaged with Half-Life 2 Episode 2 in February). The opening page is a simple prompt. If players type "login" followed by any login name and the password "portal" it will give them a dos prompt which can lead into the "application process" for their science enrichment center.