An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) for RPG players

[nedjer]

Just bust your quotes up:

I have done some of those already. the pirate list is pretty short and easy, aside from walking the plank.

- I'd bet many of you have done lots. Did a rough count for GG - huge! Experienced players can self-evidence or take a fresh look at a challenge. The pirate list is easy because we're more after the fun and production element rather than the paranoid manhunt side of ARGs - kids and certainly teen-friendly.

Some of the terms are confusing. What's a Tag (i hope it doesn't involve spraypaint), Dust.

- The spray paint reference is spot on, but you non-permanent tagging is one of the few requirements of play - you get Jinxes if you mess with permanent or irritating tags. Also RPG tags are not limited to spray paint - which would need to go on a piece of paper not a wall There's more adult/ demanding stuff in there and the site's very open to further suggestions. I'll be littering contact forms around as well as the current one. It has a sizable file size allowance . . more on that as the rest comes out.

whats the threshold for? How does one report or verify their achievements?

- Trophies, verification and . . . is the next page up - after a cup of tea

The missions look like it pertains to players trying to achieve Renegade goals inside their normal gaming.

The game aims to be seamless - kind of like a PNG alpha transparency. Without consuming much time or necessarily making others aware of your partipation it's possible to play with the website features/ narrative on the way, while playing actual RPGs and when going about arranging and promoting RPGs. Play can be conducted independently on each level; but there are linsk and linsk to the website narrative, e.g. you might find and extra Joker on the site, or go somewhere where the dragons and mates are waiting . . . to Jinx you or worse . . . if you particpate in the site narratives it will be bonus and penalties too for your Renegade.

Is there any thing about interacting with the Renegade community or with Renegaded hosted events/puzzles?[/QUOTE]

- There's a number of ways to interact and host stuff/ set-up your own Renegade group in what's about to be posted - I have a forum available in the transmedia kitbag, but I'd much rather see others in the community kick-off their own ideas. The site is merely meant to act like a reference copy. A common basis like html.

That said, while we're not after 'running the show' the Net gives us a lot to play with and various 'events', trails and narratives are planned or setup for the site. Not hugely cryptic stuff, but cued digital missions, quests and journeys I guess.

Interaction has a lot to offer there - got some good Pirate challenges - send them in or post them at EN. (Something going through Thistle Games is a shared rights approach - a forum is pretty much releasing your ideas).

It's hoped players will set up their own 'bases' and so on but we'd love to have media showing tags and trophies 'in the wild'. There wiill be virtual rewards and narratives for those sending in the best tags and trophies. Stacked on that a harmless competition is planned.

Last for now; it may seem a bit non-sequential at present. Kind of like slightly random pieces of a broken window being brought back together, but not quite as before. It's a way of injecting player choice into the whole game. Design a finished game and publish and your template/ mark shapes play for good. Take the finished game/ window, drop it on to the floor - and then let yourself and others re-assemble their own unique version.

 

[Janx]

thanks for explaining. the nature of it is a bit vague.

 

[nedjer]

Thanks for the interest Should have the rest of the pages up today and the pieces of the site narrative will be starting to come together over the weekend.


Better modify that to tonight, as the $editor, not the other half editor, waved the $ sign. Gotta go do a post before I can play.

 

[nedjer]

Ran into problems. A mate is going to post the rest of Renegade static content as quick as he can. Might take him a few days

 

[Jack7]

I've played in a couple and written 2 Parallel Reality Games. (Working on a Third as part of the Dark Corner series of 3 PRGs I wrote.)

Depending on the subject matter (of the ARG) I really, really like them, or won't play them.

Also I often work "Historical Geocaching" into my ARGs and PRGs. That works out well.

 

[nedjer]

having learned a valuable lesson about circuit-breakers over the weekend I'm going to go more by the page than the post in future

The ARG downloads mentioned on the pages and the site gameplay is getting put out once the new wiz of the wordpress panel stops having fun pressing random buttons. The trails/ transmedia elements are are going to get scaled up a bit after getting loads of suggestions.

 

[Jack7]

having learned a valuable lesson about circuit-breakers over the weekend I'm going to go more by the page than the post in future

Live in one of those areas with a lot of summer thunderstorms?



When I wrote my first PRG it involved an old, unsolved murder case and the game took place all around my hometown. So in constructing the game I planted several geocaches all around town and the county that involved clues (and other things) surrounding the case, as well as information and items related to the history of my city.

That game had basically two overlapping points of focus. The old cold case (it was about 50 years old) and the history of the city itself.

Rather than providing coordinates to the geocaches, there were clues as to how to find them. Each cache had something to advance either the case, or the historical background of the city, or both.

Maybe one day you'll consider writing and/or running an ARG or PRG of your own. An awful lot of work, but fun. I've even considered writing a PRG concerning one of my inventions, and possibly an ARG or PRG about a book I'm to publish in the future. Those would be more viral in nature though.

Good luck with what you're doing now.

 

[nedjer]

Live in one of those areas with a lot of summer thunderstorms?



When I wrote my first PRG it involved an old, unsolved murder case and the game took place all around my hometown. So in constructing the game I planted several geocaches all around town and the county that involved clues (and other things) surrounding the case, as well as information and items related to the history of my city.

That game had basically two overlapping points of focus. The old cold case (it was about 50 years old) and the history of the city itself.

Rather than providing coordinates to the geocaches, there were clues as to how to find them. Each cache had something to advance either the case, or the historical background of the city, or both.

Maybe one day you'll consider writing and/or running an ARG or PRG of your own. An awful lot of work, but fun. I've even considered writing a PRG concerning one of my inventions, and possibly an ARG or PRG about a book I'm to publish in the future. Those would be more viral in nature though.

Good luck with what you're doing now.

Let's put it this way; if there's a thunderstorm in sight I'd probably be best not walking around waving a golf club in the air.

More with the info on different options and approaches at any stage please.

Where it's at in terms of what's posted is very much along the lines of sf0 i.e. a production ARG, rather than a mystery or crime hunt.

When the first images get posted players' content will resemble nothing so much as a Panini sticker book for RPG productions - quests . . . Much of this takes the game in the direction of encouraging 'round the table' RPG gameplay, with tech being solely for admin/ enhancement of the round the table game, i.e. ARG elements are meant to serve the TRPG purpose.

The more usual ARGy element, that is only surfacing, sits on the site and is independent of, but linked to, the 'real world' game. Players can choose to explore areas of the site - risking the loss of 'real world' Dust, production forfeits . . . by battling the dragons. If they succeed they can gain goodies/ Dust/ weapons - some of which are carried back into the 'real world' game.

Will any of this turn into a sinister, mystery ARG. Not as such, over 10 friendly is kind of a keystone. The activities on the site will come from more RPGy options where you select a form of combat and take a calculated (and limited) risk with Dust you've worked hard to earn making real productions.

So, you might make a Remorhaz-shaped jelly or sand sculpture for your players and decide to use the Dust to test your skills on the site. And yes, a kid is deliberately begin asked to value currency, evaluate purchases and play in a financial fish tank that extends into the real world proper.

Following in part from the stuff about chucking the glass on the ground above, the design is now kind of emergent. It'll do a lot of fish tank and sandbox stuff, and elaborate it, simply as a result of play.

 

[nedjer]

This slowed pace on the site, because an upgrade to plans took over after a certain amount of interest. Polishing all the graphics just takes forever, so prepping the on-site gameplay element is still eating up the hours.

The production side of the game has just been tidied-up and prints real well off the page. There are a couple of images to add tomorrow before it's complete, but I mention it with GenCon up and running. There could be no easier or better place to try out a few of the various missions. Not necessarily to get into the whole game, but to see if there's a couple of Con options that might be worth a try:

E.g. Monk's Mission: Energize

Stick a bunch of RPG files like free RPGs, your own game you'd like to get out there, a pdf coupon for the FLGS you own . . . on your mobile micro-SD.

Get down with fast Bluetooth pairing between phones and find people with mobile phones.

Give them RPG stuff - and if they don't already know show them how to give other people RPG stuff