ARGs and Utopian Dreams

Ron Meiners contributes an essay about the social possibilities in alternate reality - from Burning Man to Last Call Poker.  A selection: "The ARG creates a median space between the two poles: participatory but guided. Social, but driven by the need for collaboration and the self-selection of the participants and the underlying knowledge that the space is ultimately a protected one...which creates very strong social ties and consistently transformative personal experiences that she [Jane McGonigal] described as “pronoia” – the irrational conviction that the world is conspiring to your benefit in subtle and consistent ways..."

There seems to be a very curious and consistent dichotomy in social spaces, online and in realspace. One end of the spectrum are the systems where the social dynamics are moderated from on high, with the result of creating a very predictable, “safe”, normative social experience. MOO’s, or There (http://www.There.com) , or Disneyland (http://www.Disneyland.com) (or, arguably most competitive games) have well defined and enforced social rules, and thus become a chance for participants to interact without the fear of the “other”: social expectations are explicit, or, even more, the social norm is overtly friendly and accepting, even with individuals that might otherwise be seen as outside of one’s social group (it is a small world, after all). In contrast, at the other end of the spectrum are experiences where the social experience can more generally be seen as driven from the bottom up- ie., much less sense of social norm (though this can create a very strong social dynamic driven by an explicit cultural value on accepting others regardless of superficial appearance). MUSH’s, Second Life (http://secondlife.com), or Burning Man (http://www.BurningMan.com) have much less superficial social homogeneity, but this too can foster a greater sense of connection for members of the culture, as the acceptance of explicit diversity becomes an identification in itself and this creates a connection.  

The next piece of this is the element of creative collaboration as a social norm- at Burning Man it’s quite common to join in serious work (and remember we’re talking the desert in late August here) to help the art project of total strangers. At Disneyland even the notion of individuals creating something is seen as subversive (reasonably, the whole value is created by a sense of security and conformity – and by contrast subversion is a good part of the aesthetic of spaces like Burning Man). And, of course, the element of “professionalism” or the availability of resources and production values are appropriate to these two production methods. With the exception of the fireworks displays, the greater resources and moderated production processes of places like Disneyland or Las Vegas can create an aesthetic driven by sheer technique that’s a lot harder to find in the desert. Both experiences are driven by wonder, but the cultural perspectives that define that wonder can be worlds apart. One is driven by participation while the other is driven by a sense of luxury , a sense of holiday from responsibility or challenge. And, of course, these are huge generalizations: there is certainly a social world in Second Life, and collaborative creativity in There. But I think the general character of these worlds fit the model.

Yet there’s a third piece to this system, a cultural and social experience that combines elements of both ends of this spectrum to create an enhanced effect for participants. I’m going to draw heavily from the analysis of the Alternate Reality Game (ARG) presented by Jane McGonigal (http://avantgame.com/index.html) (she’s currently working on the lastcallpoker (http://lastcallpoker.com) ARG) at the Austin Game Conference (http://www.gameconference.com/), which presented the ARG as a combination of game and social experience that had profound effects on its participants, even transformative ones.  

Jane’s discussion of the ARG is worth exploring in depth (and hopefully will be online soon) but I want to highlight one element that struck me as very insightful, and that fits in with the taxonomy of social and cultural experiences described above. ARG’s blend elements of both types of experiences to create an enhanced social and personal experience for participants. The general space is moderated – but only remotely, and most of the social interaction is freely built by the participants. The experience is collaborative, but is part of an unfolding (sometimes dynamically so) game arc crafted by the designers. The ARG creates a median space between the two poles: participatory but guided. Social, but driven by the need for collaboration and the self-selection of the participants and the underlying knowledge that the space is ultimately a protected one.

In the ARG, Jane pointed out, much of the core experience revolves around collaborative problem solving, which creates very strong social ties and consistently transformative personal experiences that she described as “pronoia” – the irrational conviction that the world is conspiring to your benefit in subtle and consistent ways. (Her examples of this are very impressive, including the previously uninvolved individual who spontaneously took on a pivotal role in one ARG due to the conviction of the players that he was also in the game.) The consistently transformative experiences of ARG players, the tendency toward pronoia, reflects a cultural system that both involves and guides, that includes and also rewards individual creation. It gives a clear signpost of the kind of “game”/cultural experiences that can have profound personal and social consequences. 

To a large extent, the expectation of powerful experiences in the culture of the participants reinforces this effect, becomes part of the view of themselves shared by members of the culture. In my experience, this is what makes Burning Man still an often profound event: the cultural expectation of transformative experiences and interactions shapes the experiences of the participants, coloring how they interpret events and in how they present themselves to other participants. The expectation is communicated as a defining part of the culture, and events there are therefore often seen through this lens, and become personally meaningful.

And certainly cultural expectations are quite meaningful in online settings: one expects (for example) a different culture in Shadowbane from what one finds in the Myst community. And the expectations in turn influence, or even define, the way participants interpret events and express themselves while participating in that culture. I think people tend to approach online cultures altruistically, a little bit more open to a utopian dream, and that this results in cultures that tend to reinforce those dreams.

--Ron Meiners