Meta happens.
The Secret of ARGs
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 11:51 PMI didn't know I had it in me; must be a gift. But I've somehow discoverd a secret on how to make one's ARG successful.
The problem: I don't know what it is. Furthermore, I didn't do anything.
Looking Glass Laboratories, during its entire run, spawned a 90 page thread on unFiction. So far, I have 15 pages and over 215 posts for an ARG that I haven't even designed yet, more than several other ARGs that are already running ("In the Final State" is barely keeping ahead, and I'm soon to exceed Rivard's post count).
Heck, for that matter my ARG doesn't even have a NAME yet!
You are all witnessing what has the making of a psychology experiment: the players are effectively creating their own ARG here, and I haven't said a word. Considering the enthusiasm they are conveying when they talk about baked goods, I now fear I may disappoint them with what I *really* have planned.
I have created a mini-Cloverfield it seems; it's now taking life on its own without any input from me. And I am resisting, believe me I am resisting, from posting on that thread. Post after post, speculation after speculation, without anyone having any idea what this is all about.
I'm tempted to start screwing with them, like adding quotes from a Betty Crocker cookbook embedded in the HTML of the form page.
Just so everyone's aware: it's gonna be a little while before the ARG's launched. Right now I'm busy assembling the rabbit hole (yes, you read that correctly). If this is what it's like before it even exists, it looks to be one hell of a ride.
And I don't know where y'all are getting your recruitment numbers; I've had ninety people sign up. And, no, I'm not telling you the team sizes.
In the meantime, don't get me wrong people: keep it up. Some of the posts have had me crying in stiches. Some had me crying while curled up in a ball under my desk, though. Can't win them all.
Posted by Darklight Interactive on 04/09/08 @ 11:51 PM
Decisions, decisions…
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 03:55 PMI'm in a bit of a mental dilemma.
The unFiction forum thread has grown to 28+ pages, more than most active ARGs. It's a great thread, all things considered, and does show the creativity of some of the members there.
But it leaves me wondering if the ARG I had in mind can compare to that. So I have two options: go with what I have so far and hope it's enough, or make something better. Something that will be significantly more engrossing than I had originally planned, and will serve as more of a "thank you" to the players that have expressed interest in this without having any idea whatsoever what "this" is.
So, therefore, the ARG continues to be in development, and as much as I would like to get it launched and in your hands (figuratively speaking) as soon as possible, I want to wait until it's done right. That might take a little longer, but I think it'll be worth it.
I hope I'm not wrong in that decision.
In the meantime, keep the creative coming. This is going to be one hell of a post-game write-up at this rate!
Random Nighthawk (Darklight) posts…
4/3/08 10:51 pm
"Brain Clouds" pre-launch thread.4/10/08 7:42 pm
An interesting post on the nature of puzzles in ARGs4/12/08 3:31 pm
Jabba wrote:
"uh oh… Twinkies and Ho-Ho's are taking over the uf forums one thread at a time!"
Seems like my work here is done…4/13/08 7:13 pm
I really don't have time for this right now (special projects, and the natives are restless)4/13/08 8:12 pm
I'm not to keen on this team vs. team thing; this shouldn't be a competition against each other, trying to hide secrets from another.
(Ironic that I am saying that, isn't it?)4/14/08 10:36 pm
I would have put up my answer sooner, but I was busy creating a new Truetype font for… er… no reason.
Honest.4/15/08 10:12 pm
My next one, so far, has cost me around $200, but some of those costs are blended in with my Brain Clouds concept ("deluxe" GoDaddy hosting, static IP, three domains, etc…)…. my next project is by "Darklight Interactive", not by me.4/16/08 12:18 am
Right now I admit I have a decent list (70 registrants from LGL, 100+ from Darklight)
4/17/08 5:22 pm
Don't freak out. It's not like *you* have thirty pages of baked goods leading up to your ARG…
4/17/08 7:08 pm
When LGL launched, nobody knew who was behind it. Or who the hell I was, for that matter; nobody knew anything about me the individual other than what I've
expressed through game involvement on these forums (until the post-game, nobody knew my real name here).
Now it seems I have a following… like lemmings to a cliff…4/17/08 7:11 pm
Why such the stigma with knowing who the puppetmasters in any given game are? I'm not hiding anything for my next one… although it's admittedly to late to do that at this point, is that a concern?4/17/08 9:52 pm
Well, I don't intend to make my trailhead that obvious, but still…4/18/08 2:45 pm
And here I thought a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle would be overboard for my next project…
