So as everyone knows, Valve did an entire ARG (alternative reality game for all those who don't know) that was pretty fun and creative, despite some clerical issues regarding the early release of the final phase, which we all know ended up feeling like us spending a lot of money to have Portal 2 released only six hours early.
I kind of look at ARGs in a Tombstone kind of way, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
First the good. What's good about ARGs is that they keep the community entertained while everyone in Valve/mod group/indie game company can work on the final touches of the game. It also sort of guides the community's imminent theories about the game and prevent them from being too "crackpotish". In my opinion the PotatoFool'sDay ARG was really fun in the beginning because it brought the community closer together when they were solving the puzzles.
This brings me to the bad. The worst part about the ARG that Valve did for Portal 2 was that they used it (or at least it felt that way) to make a little more money on the side. For those of you who weren't around/involved during the ARG, what happened was that if you had/bought certain games and completed puzzles within them, you shortened the release time of the game. With all the work of the Steam community, that only amounted to the game being released six hours early, which was hardly worth the money people spent. I was expecting something like a whole day or even a few days, but it only amounted to that.
Now for the ugly. The ugliest part of the ARGs (not just the Valve one) is that there is a lot of name calling and shoving and pushing in regards to the fact that if someone gets something wrong about a clue that's put out publicly, they're basically lynched to shit and back. Several people within the Steam community were treated terribly during the ARG because they accidentally misinterpreted a clue, lead everyone on for about two hours, and then someone fixed it and the person who made the accident was pushed around like a chew toy.
So basically what my opinion of ARGs boils down to is that they're a fun idea. They get the community together and can cause some really exciting things to happen, but when they're capitalized on or people get rough, it just isn't worth it. So next time Valve or any other group wants to do one, I suggest that they put a little more forethought into it before letting it loose.
Anyways, I noticed while perusing the Steam forums that some people have started ARGs of their own to promote their mods for HL2 and other games using the Source engine.
I'll start off by posting the first one that I found (sorry if it's messed up, still learning):
[url]http://steamcommunity.com/groups/spinenetwork?[/url]
Edit: I guess I should put that you should post ARGs you find, derp. And any opinions you have of the ARGs
Leveraged is making a more awesomer one and is more huge than anything we ever saw.
[sp]It's going to be played and done through indie games, new and old[/sp]
The thread title is very misleading. I thought I was gonna see a long wall of text talking about why ARGs can be good and bad and their cons and pros but instead I find you're basically telling us that some mods and games are using ARGs now, which is informative but not really deserving of a thread.
[QUOTE=MiKaXsUs;29960808]Leveraged is making a more awesomer one and is more huge than anything we ever saw.
[sp]It's going to be played and done through indie games, new and old[/sp][/QUOTE]
I just read through that page, it sounds like a glorified public beta testing programme.
[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;29964851]The thread title is very misleading. I thought I was gonna see a long wall of text talking about why ARGs can be good and bad and their cons and pros but instead I find you're basically telling us that some mods and games are using ARGs now, which is informative but not really deserving of a thread.[/QUOTE]
You can if you want, it'd attract more attention to the thread
[QUOTE=Tuskanini;29970988]You can if you want, it'd attract more attention to the thread[/QUOTE]
Did I say at any point I wanted to write it? I wanted to read it. :v:
Yes, the thread title is pretty misleading. Might want to try and revise your OP quick.
Fan-based ARGs are pretty bland honestly, most that I've seen are doing it for the sake of doing it, the actual thing that's unveiled as a result does not live up to the work done for achieving it, and as a whole it's pretty much pointless
As if Valve's ARGs weren't obnoxious enough.
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