Jerry,

I'd love to hear from anyone involved with Perplex City http://www.perplexcity.com/

- Mike

On 11/10/06, Jerry Paffendorf <jerry@electricsheepcompany.com> wrote:

Hi all,

While we're still waiting on a VLB field trip, I'd like to do a
future salon on the future of alternate reality games (ARGs) and
virtual worlds, like the kinds described at http://www.argn.com/ .
("I Love Bees" is a classic example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Haunted_Apiary .) I'm personally inspired by 3 things here: 1.
Increasing fascination with how the stories and descriptions of what
happens in virtual worlds are "true" and how that can be played with
(as in, when something crazy happens in a virtual world, it's
described as a real event, and news about it spreads that way) 2.
Having fun creating and playing with the identity of DestroyTV.com
(she has a girlfriend, her own history, a personality co-created with
everyone who uses her, and she leaves comments on blogs as Destroy
Television, etc.) and 3. recently seeing the Borat movie and
following the controversy with the real life Kazakhstani government :).

Does anyone have any speakers they'd especially like to hear on this
topic? Any thoughts on framing some particular ARG salon themes? Any
cool ideas for a setting or some inworld ARG tie-in with the salon?

I'd like to get the invites out very soon and solidify a date early
next week, so please let me know if you have any ideas. If not I'll
run ahead, but can't wait to hear if you do.

Cheers,

Jerry Paffendorf/SNOOPYbrown Zamboni

>From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game

An alternate reality game (ARG) is a type of game that overlaps the
game world with reality, by utilizing real world media, in order to
deliver an interactive narrative experience to the players -- a kind
of surrealism.

ARGs are typified by involving the players with the story and its
characters, by encouraging them to explore the story, solve plot
based challenges, and interact with game characters. ARGs can be
delivered via websites, email, telephones, or any other means of
communication which is readily available to the players.

ARGs are growing in popularity, with new games appearing regularly.
They tend to be free to play, with costs absorbed either through
supporting products (collectable puzzle cards in the case of Perplex
City) or because they support or promote an existing product (Halo 2
in the case of I Love Bees).

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