And bah, just read that Alice is Lost is Dead. Bum. Maybe we'll get some reasons at some point.
Showing posts with label args. Show all posts
Showing posts with label args. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Design an ARG for Cancer Research
This has big, big potential: Adrian Hon launches a new project together with Cancer Research UK: And Let's Change the Game is exciting on 2 levels. Firstly, the main goal is to employ an immersive game to encourage awareness of cancer research. Secondly, the competition, or challenge, perhaps, is to design this game.
On the whole, I think, using games for "serious purposes" is probably a good thing, even if it highlights the notion that it's difficult to take things seriously in modern culture. People put way more effort into games and communities than into, say, politics which they feel disengaged from. Adrian says the main challenge of designing the ARG will be to raise funds. In a way, this isn't so different from what PXC was doing - at the end of the day, the ARG relied on a private company which relied on cash income, so generating revenue from interest (and intrigue) basically = success! It's not hard, then, to look at the success/failure of PXC and take some lessons from it.
If I were designing an ARG for this (which, hey, I might well do yet ;), I'd be looking at ways to piggyback these ideas - interest and funding - on to the back of something which people can a) get into quickly/"loosely" and b) enjoy without feeling it's "for a cause". If you know you're involved in something primarily because they want your cash, you're more likely to not do it in the first place, no matter how good the story is.
So storytelling is an imperative, and if we go down that route then having some kind of personal run-in with cancer will be a huge advantage. ARGs rely on building emotions, and being able to draw on real ones is a big boon. Any team designing something should make sure they have at least 1 such person on board.
The interesting question, for me, in this is: how much emphasis on building a community should there be? Community breeds "stickiness" and - as Adrian says in his post - opens up huge new opportunities for what challenges can be set. But it can also act to put people off, as with big communities come big social investments - either you have both feet in, so to speak, or none at all. (That's not to say a multi-tiered approach isn't possible, but it does contribute to more work, and work which is nothing to do with planning the story such as possible community resources and moderation.)
I don't gots an answer to that one right now, and I'm not sure there's a particularly 'right' one anyway. Getting people hooked is important in this case, and it may be better to go down a more loosely-connected path. Or it may be better to get a viral campaign going and get more people hooked without necessarily spending your own marketing budget. One thing's for sure - the judges will be wanting to see some fresh ideas.
Addendum: CRUK have some useful pages on what they want/inspiration, an example submission, and their own forum.
Update: The Guardian have an interview with Adrian who has more advice for those entering. Some useful tips, including greater emphasis on what people will be doing, rather than just what the story is. Sounds like researching both cancer and CRUK, and merging that into everything, may be a good ploy.
On the whole, I think, using games for "serious purposes" is probably a good thing, even if it highlights the notion that it's difficult to take things seriously in modern culture. People put way more effort into games and communities than into, say, politics which they feel disengaged from. Adrian says the main challenge of designing the ARG will be to raise funds. In a way, this isn't so different from what PXC was doing - at the end of the day, the ARG relied on a private company which relied on cash income, so generating revenue from interest (and intrigue) basically = success! It's not hard, then, to look at the success/failure of PXC and take some lessons from it.
If I were designing an ARG for this (which, hey, I might well do yet ;), I'd be looking at ways to piggyback these ideas - interest and funding - on to the back of something which people can a) get into quickly/"loosely" and b) enjoy without feeling it's "for a cause". If you know you're involved in something primarily because they want your cash, you're more likely to not do it in the first place, no matter how good the story is.
So storytelling is an imperative, and if we go down that route then having some kind of personal run-in with cancer will be a huge advantage. ARGs rely on building emotions, and being able to draw on real ones is a big boon. Any team designing something should make sure they have at least 1 such person on board.
The interesting question, for me, in this is: how much emphasis on building a community should there be? Community breeds "stickiness" and - as Adrian says in his post - opens up huge new opportunities for what challenges can be set. But it can also act to put people off, as with big communities come big social investments - either you have both feet in, so to speak, or none at all. (That's not to say a multi-tiered approach isn't possible, but it does contribute to more work, and work which is nothing to do with planning the story such as possible community resources and moderation.)
I don't gots an answer to that one right now, and I'm not sure there's a particularly 'right' one anyway. Getting people hooked is important in this case, and it may be better to go down a more loosely-connected path. Or it may be better to get a viral campaign going and get more people hooked without necessarily spending your own marketing budget. One thing's for sure - the judges will be wanting to see some fresh ideas.
Addendum: CRUK have some useful pages on what they want/inspiration, an example submission, and their own forum.
Update: The Guardian have an interview with Adrian who has more advice for those entering. Some useful tips, including greater emphasis on what people will be doing, rather than just what the story is. Sounds like researching both cancer and CRUK, and merging that into everything, may be a good ploy.
Thursday, 28 June 2007
6op wiki brings you saviour from ugglebrain
Instead of a summary of what's been happening in 6op 1 libra, here's a link to the wiki we've started on it - there's even the start of a timeline as a way of introduction. I might still do a quick summary here at some point though, if I get time.
Why am I so interested in it? It's not like it's the only ARG out there, after all. I guess because a) there are only a few of us working on it at the moment, which is always nice, and b) the game seemed to "follow" me (or "stalk" perhaps) for a while. Soon after the initial sites were found and e-mail contact was made, a link to Sussex Uni's Informatics dept came up, followed by the phone number for Magpie. Having been a part of both these places in the last few years, it was only natural to be intrigued.
A couple of people I know have been "implicated" as part of the plot, although I'm still uncertain just how much they're involved. Still, the experience goes on.
Why am I so interested in it? It's not like it's the only ARG out there, after all. I guess because a) there are only a few of us working on it at the moment, which is always nice, and b) the game seemed to "follow" me (or "stalk" perhaps) for a while. Soon after the initial sites were found and e-mail contact was made, a link to Sussex Uni's Informatics dept came up, followed by the phone number for Magpie. Having been a part of both these places in the last few years, it was only natural to be intrigued.
A couple of people I know have been "implicated" as part of the plot, although I'm still uncertain just how much they're involved. Still, the experience goes on.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Quickfire Post - 6op 1 Libra
If you're looking for something to do over the weekend, why not catch up with this thread on unfiction, and help us work out what the frooping hull 6op 1 Libra is all about. It's been a pretty odd few days - I'll write it up in a few days...
Thursday, 3 May 2007
PXC S2 Preview Tomorrow
Following on from the "official announce", ARGNet reports that a Perplex City "preview episode" will hit the web on Friday (tomorrow, at time of writing). Sounds like it might be a way to keep old players ticking over til June, plus a nice introduction to things for newbies.
As details on the way season 2 will work are still pretty scant, this should be interesting to see. Video, I guess, will be used, but the interactive part remains a mystery. In particular, how will it balance individuals vs groupwork? I have much work to do, but will be keeping an eye out tomorrow for sure...
As details on the way season 2 will work are still pretty scant, this should be interesting to see. Video, I guess, will be used, but the interactive part remains a mystery. In particular, how will it balance individuals vs groupwork? I have much work to do, but will be keeping an eye out tomorrow for sure...
Friday, 2 March 2007
Perplex City 2.0 is Go
So, once again I've been neglecting my blogging duties, tut. The new Perplex City website has been launched a little while ago, featuring a veritable plethora of puzzles that are free to play. These include Japanese puzzles, so all you sudoku, hitori, hashi/bridges/"ponturu", etc fans can get an interactive fix. In addition, there are plenty of word-based puzzles such as crosswords and rebuses (rebii?), various visual puzzles, and some rather addicitive flash games lurking in the sidebar too. Phew. Ought to keep you going for quite a while.
Regarding the ARG and the cards, which were the part of season 1, these look like they're being "separated"s lightly. The first wave of new puzzle cards were released yesterday (and can be bought from many places, including Firebox), although it looks like the PXC technical team are working their socks extra hard, as the functionality to actually enter solves on the site has been delayed until today. (5pm, apparently.) Meanwhile, the ARG side of things is set to go in April, over at Perplex City Stories, with fancy new video and everything. Could be an interesting ride.
So, opinion? The new site has a great range of puzzles that have kept me clicking for hours now. There are a lot of nice and easy puzzles, but a few ones that look pretty evil too. Alas, it does seem that quite a few of particular puzzle types - e.g. wordplay ones - have been taken straight from the board game, so some possible deja vu/spoilers there. What's great though is the integration of the puzzle creation tools. It looks like you're still limited to multiple-choice, which is a shame in a way (although maybe this is for future use in some "Slamboozle" feature they mention...), but it's nice to see the community aspect continue. The cards themselves are looking just as devilish as ever, too. The map of Perplex City on the back has gone, but I won't give away what's replaced it.
So go have a play with it all, if you haven't already. More free puzzles, who can complain? :)
Regarding the ARG and the cards, which were the part of season 1, these look like they're being "separated"s lightly. The first wave of new puzzle cards were released yesterday (and can be bought from many places, including Firebox), although it looks like the PXC technical team are working their socks extra hard, as the functionality to actually enter solves on the site has been delayed until today. (5pm, apparently.) Meanwhile, the ARG side of things is set to go in April, over at Perplex City Stories, with fancy new video and everything. Could be an interesting ride.
So, opinion? The new site has a great range of puzzles that have kept me clicking for hours now. There are a lot of nice and easy puzzles, but a few ones that look pretty evil too. Alas, it does seem that quite a few of particular puzzle types - e.g. wordplay ones - have been taken straight from the board game, so some possible deja vu/spoilers there. What's great though is the integration of the puzzle creation tools. It looks like you're still limited to multiple-choice, which is a shame in a way (although maybe this is for future use in some "Slamboozle" feature they mention...), but it's nice to see the community aspect continue. The cards themselves are looking just as devilish as ever, too. The map of Perplex City on the back has gone, but I won't give away what's replaced it.
So go have a play with it all, if you haven't already. More free puzzles, who can complain? :)
Thursday, 15 February 2007
An Update on NIN: Year Zero "arg"
The NIN Year Zero "ARG" (unfiction thread) is continuing apace into ever more intriguing climes. 3 days ago, one of the tracks from the forthcoming album was found on a USB key in a toilet stall at a gig. Static at the end of the song reveals an image of The Presence, which is lurking darkly beneath the ARG-like story so far.
Interesting times...
Interesting times...
Friday, 9 February 2007
Cubed: A Beginning and an End.
The PXC Sentinel reports, after many years, that the Receda Cube has finally been found, bringing Perplex City's first season to an end. Unfiction member Rand0m (listed as 'astro_random') was the lucky (read "dedicated", although it was a close-run thing) locator.
Useful links:
Join us at the party on the 24th :)
Useful links:
Join us at the party on the 24th :)
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