unfiction.com

In a previous article, I discussed Chaotic Fiction as a concept and as a context for a better understanding of Alternate Reality Gaming. This was intended more as an overview and did not address in detail the gaming dynamic, the process, or the chaotic play of Alternate Reality Gaming. How does it work? What engages an audience? Which elements are necessary to facilitate the growth of the audience, and which elements can be discarded? Why does there have to be a "curtain?"

Many discussions focus on only one of two aspects of the experience as being the primary drivers within the medium: (1) Dividing the audience into discrete groups and (2) defining types of "real-world" game interaction mechanisms. Because the process of Chaotic Play is so different from that of more traditional gaming and entertainment pursuits, I believe that the metaconversational space shared during the creation of a chaotic enterprise should be the focus of the perspective from which we describe the system.

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You've seen our previous announcement about Despoiler, of course, and know all about how you can request a wiki for use in connection with your favorite game, right? But if you hadn't actually gone there, you might not know that we've also already begun posting trailhead and tip links on Despoiler before we post them to the forums. The other day, we posted a tip about a new game, "The Case of the Coveted Bottle," promotes Sarah Jessica Parker's new perfume, "Covet." Discussion has already begun on our forums, which you are welcome to join.

First, I want to thank whoever was behind the "shout-out" to Unfiction in the "How to Play" section of the official site. Second, I want to point out something about the design of this contest that I think is really clever: the way they've added bonus tiers to the prize scheme. Basically, it is a puzzle contest game, where "leads" are releases each week for which you receive points for solving. Once you have enough points, you're entered automatically in the grand prize drawing.

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Unfiction is proud to announce the launch of Despoiler.org, a sister site dedicated to releasing information into wild. It will, of course, be focused on the Alternate Reality Gaming and Chaotic Fiction communities and will provide free wiki resources for their pursuits. Wikis may be requested via a contact form on the site and usage will be subject to a modified version of the terms of service that have worked quite well so far on our own forums.

One wiki has already been created and seeded for those of you following the Golden Jigsaw puzzle.

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Every so often, a campaign comes along that either by design or by accident pits players against each other in a battle to keep their information secret. Since this dynamic runs quite counter to the Unfiction norm, in the end it mainly causes trouble for the moderators and administrators who must worry about which user was posting as a guest merely to disseminate information anonymously and which was really a puppetmaster attempting to post in disguise. It is my hope that Despoiler may serve as an outlet for those player necessities and make it easier on those of us who attempt to facilitate the discussion.

What happens when a guerilla marketing campaign spawns its own guerilla marketing in turn? Recursion! It's what's for dinner.

I spotted this attempt at stencil art on my way home for lunch today, spray-painted on the surface of a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the railroad line. Year Zero fans may recognize it as the logo for the Open Source Resistance, an in-game call to action.

I believe this is the first time I have spotted in meatspace content connected with an ARG that appears to have been generated and placed by a player rather than the puppetmasters.

Unforum users may have already noticed the unusual slow-down in server response today. The Court TV contest Save My Husband is reaching its climax and the increase in traffic is giving us what-for.

For what it's worth, the database server is holding up quite well but the web server is losing responsiveness. Please try to keep your page refreshes to a minimum if you can.