My first experience with ARG's

[Mia]

so....yeah. Wow.

When I first read about ARG's here a few months back - I thought they sounded very interesting. I thought to myself, "Self - this sounds like something fun, maybe you should find one to play over the winter."

Now, I'm having some serious mixed feelings. I realize Roxi wants the curtains drawn back over the levers and whatnot, but I feel a need to express my feelings on this.

After feeling both vaguely amused that I had "been had" and very relieved to learn that no one was running around with raging untreated Schizophrenia, and that no one was using my profile here just to mess with me in WoW, I gotta admit - I'm feeling incredibly irritated.

I love puzzles. That's why the idea of participating in an ARG was so intriguing. I guess I don't like the idea that I was participating in one without knowing that I was.

And of course, the whole mental illness aspect of this (Brian's blog) had me really tremendously concerned. Gotta give credit to whoever wrote that though - very convincing. And it wouldn't/shouldn't take a mental health professional to read that blog and realize that the guy needed help desperately. I was pretty disgusted that no one had gotten him any help so far. I'm glad it's not real.

I guess I don't have anything else to say.

[revlazaro]

I accidently glimpsed behind the curtain early in the thread, but I've always wanted to partake in an ARG and had to play along. I had a sneaking suspicion whenever some cryptic message about the Singularity popped up.

Try not to be irritated; it definitely got everyone's attention and even when we weren't sure if it was a hoax or a nutjob, it had us diving in.

You should stick around and play Mia; if you look at it in another light, you've had more immersion into the story than anyone else so far. You've already played a pivotal role to get things moving. It would be a shame if you didn't stick around to help us crack the case.

[QforQ]

I've had a lot of fun with ARG's in the past. I think they really appeal to me because I really like immersive gameplay...

The Matrix Online, in the early days, had a lot of ARG aspects to the game and I really really really loved it for that fact. Some of my best memories in that game are from the ARG that surrounded it/that they used inside the game to tell the story.

[Mia]

oh - I forgot one part.

In addition to being vaguely amused and relieved, before the irritation set in - I also felt really badly that I had "ruined" the game by posting the PM I received. At the time when I posted it, I still didn't understand that gDNA had a hand in this and thought it was someone finally fessing up about the whole thing. If the pm had come from one of the staff, as opposed to a random New Member - I probably wouldn't have gone and stuck a screenshot of it up there.

When I found out gDNA had a hand in this - I was very apologetic for ruining the game.

Not sure what this adds to the discussion, but I left it out earlier. And I think it's part of what's got me feeling out of sorts. I felt badly abut ruining other people's idea of fun. I'm not sure I'm the one who should have been feeling badly.

But...
I guess I should just accept the apology in the PM from Randomeis, but at the time I read it - I still didn't get who the author was (how could I?); still thought he was operating on his own (not with gDNA).

Oh - and as an aside to the aforementioned Randomeis - the PM you had the "Trent char" send me did not 'put me at ease' and never indicated that I was going to be left alone and not involved in any way. He stayed in character and even went so far as to ASK me "Why do you think Brian would reach out to you?" That seems like trying to draw me into the game/subterfuge further, now doesn't it?

Maybe I should just grow a thicker skin, or stop worrying about people I don't know - even if they are in obvious pain - afterall they might not actually be real, right?

[EvilAerosolCan]

Originally Posted by Mia

Maybe I should just grow a thicker skin, or stop worrying about people I don't know - even if they are in obvious pain - afterall they might not actually be real, right?

You shouldn't worry about those outside your monkeysphere, they aren't real people.

[Mia]

Originally Posted by EvilAerosolCan

You shouldn't worry about those outside your monkeysphere, they aren't real people.

I'm not sure what I was supposed to take away from that - but I like the idea of having a little monkey named Slappy, dressed as a pirate.

[randomeis]

One of my First ARG experiences was with EA's Majestic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majestic_(video_game)
What was really cool that one of the people I met while playing was one of the original cloudmakers.
http://www.cloudmakers.org/
And from there I found my way to www.unfiction.com one of the best resources playing ARGs. They have an excellent Glossary that define terms like Puppetmaster http://www.unfiction.com/glossary/
They also have a some guides to help you get started exploring the world of ARGs. http://www.unfiction.com/welcome/gs/
Some online tools that may help you solve puzzles
http://www.unfiction.com/resource/otools/
and maybe even more importantly they are very kind and willing to offer advice about ARGs

[Mia]

/speechless