HW: Read the 10 Commandments and discuss. Do you agree? Are these "in stone" or are they flexible? Do they need to be updated? If so, how would YOU update them?
Presentations:
"Chasing the Wish"
"Urban Hunt"
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The "Alternate Reality Game" Class
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10 comments:
After thinking about this for a while, I've come to the conclusion that ARGs are a lot of different things to different people. Some may play to solve puzzles, some to be involved with a story that they can influence, some to socialize, etc. Players also have varying levels of involvement, illustrated by 42 Entertainment's diagram. So having a set of 10 commandments that ARGers should follow almost seems a bit unfair to a genre that is so many different things.
That being said, I think the only "rule" that players should follow is #3, simply because using brute force to break the game destroys the experience for everyone.
Just my two cents.
I misplaced my comment on this post. It's on the next one, the comic. Sorry.
Addlepated = Dee Cook. :)
Of the six of us, Dave and I are working on professional ARGs and extended reality campaigns (he's seen quite a bit of success!), Caterpillar has worked on various Dave campaigns, and the others have mostly left the ARG scene. I enjoyed reading the presentation.
And you can imagine the expressions on our (virtual) faces when we realized we'd launched against what was called at that time "The Beast 2." :o
I actually like all ten rules. Although rules can be restrictive, in the case of ARGs we need to have at least an "outline" of the borders within which the game can operate.
Without the rules, there would just be total chaos and no way of actually sustaining the game.
Like Candace, I too, was thinking of Monopoly specifically and “traditional” game rules myself. All games come with a set of rules. And those rules drive the game play and create the specific environment, therefore, I see no reason to change any of the rules (and can’t really think of an instance of a traditional game that changes the rules- it may generate another game (different types of bridge, other card games branched from the original, etc.), but the main game remains the same with the same original rules).
Immutable Rules? For an ARG? ARGs seem to be an exercise in: how few rules can a game have and still be playable?
#8 is probably the rule most broken. Rule #1 inherently breaks rule #8
#6 Why not?(see I Love Bees)
I also like all the rules. I find that they all have their place in making the ARGs more enjoyable. I would not object however to a player who decided to ignore any of these in a game I was participating in as long as it didn't ruin everyone's experience.
MA = Mary Ann btw.
On the 10 Commandments. I take exception to the idea that "Thou shalt not think around corners." If we didn't try to think around corners, there would be no element of pursuing the wrong little bit of info that you thought was something but wasn't.
I think this aspect is important, if destructive to the player's psyche.
I think the rules are all pretty solid but I agree with MA. The rules you follow are up to you. Just dont mess up any body else's game.
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