ARG

From ILB

ARG == Alternate Reality Game/Gaming

unfiction (http://unfiction.com) defines ARG here (http://unfiction.com/glossary) as:

 Alternate Reality Gaming: A genre of interactive fiction using multiple delivery 
 and communications media, including television, radio, newpapers, Internet, email,
 SMS, telephone, voicemail, and postal service. Gaming is typically comprised of a
 secret group of PuppetMasters who author, manipulate, and otherwise control the
 storyline, related scenarios, and puzzles and a public group of players, the
 collective detective that attempts to solve the puzzles and thereby win the
 furtherance of the story.

The Wikipedia page for "Alternate Reality Game" is here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_Reality_Game). An excerpt:

 Alternate Reality Gaming is a computer game that deliberately blurs the line
 between the in game and out of game experiences. Often events that happen inside
 the game reality will 'reach out' into the players life in order to bring them
 together. Elements of the plotline may be provided to the player in almost any form ...

Wikipedia even has a page devoted to this ARG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Apiary).

A brief summary of some basic ideas about ARGs written by Rose in response to a request for simple information to be used in a TV interview. This summary was well-received by unfiction.

 Simple definition of an ARG:
 a game set in a virtual world with virtual characters who interact with players
 in the real  world. Interactions in this game are the phone calls and emails- 
 but other games include packages being mailed, chats, IM contact and lots of 
 other things. The story advances with players solving puzzles that reveal more information. 

 Why ARGs are different from other games: 
 Players become immersed in the game so they start to see the game
 reflected in the real world around them. Examples: people think of the game 
 if they are near a payphone that rings unexpectedly; 
 Cortana seeing the word "Spartan" next to the axon he was activating. 
 The game is interactive, not passive entertainment. The players become a part of, and help 
 create, the game. In some games, the players choose the ultimate outcome. 
 In this game, the SP has responded to questions we asked her. 
 The game played by a community creates a unique dimension. 
 People with a variety of talents join together to play. 
 People create resources for themselves and each other and to help new players. 
 People collaborate on complex tasks and quickly respond to challenges. 
 Example in this game is the solving of the all puzzles one week in less than 3 hours.
 Some of those puzzles were challenging. 

 Why the ARG format enhances story-telling: 
 The ARG format allows the story to be told from the individual view point 
 of different characters simultaneously. (Personally, I think this is the
 greatest strength.) The only other art form that can do this is the opera 
 or, I suppose, film, where dividing the screen can allow a viewer to see 
 events from various points of views. And, of course, both opera and film 
 are passive entertainments that the audience consumes but doesn't help create.
 The ARG is a non-linear narrative so events don't have to occur in strict
 chronological order. Also, people may solve things in a different order than 
 the PMs planned, so the players create their own timeline.