Michaela Questions Nov 20th
1. If ARGs are cultural probes and they can be an inspiration for political agency, if they can encourage political thought and action (also through social media), and this political action can be censored and stopped and policed by governmental agencies due to the access to the data, how can ARGs help re-frame this situation? What networks can be designed for this kind of political action to still be safe? (See the events in Hong-Kong, Russia etc)
2. In ‘Alternate Reality Games and the Cusp of Digital Gameplay’, two of the six guiding principles about how an ARG can operate as a cultural probe are: ‘using dystopian conventions to produce a utopian imaginary’ and ‘blurring boundaries between reality and the game’. On the one hand, these principles can be really effective, on the other, they might lead to skepticism over the impact (such as that their impact might not reach anyone else than their players). In what ways can these two principles be strengthened in order to be more effective?
3. In ARGs and transmedia projects, the ‘rules of the game’ are somewhat deconstructed or lacking (as they are often linear-unfolding experiences), in order for the participants to gain more agency and bottom-top approach, certain rules of the world have to be designed. This also means that the players have too much freedom, which might have ineffective results. The design of strict and clear rules of the world of the experience can make the ‘reality’ seem more logical. Where can we find balance between agency and the rules that might constrain our agency but will make the game more engaging?
4. Another typical aspect of ARGs is their temporal aspect, often they are one-time experiences (this might have been possibly a result from them being essentially a marketing tool to build audience for another medium). What would be the aspects of an ARG that for instance one could join on a online platform but it still wouldn’t lose its ‘event aspect’?