ARG Netcast, Episode 16: Back to Basics

 ARG Netcast, Episode 16: Back to Basics [64:20m]: Play in Popup | Download

One week after the Greatest Show in ARG, panelists Nicko Demeter, Sean C. Stacey, Marie Lamb and Jessica Price join host Jonathan Waite for an hour long look at recent game developments and the fall out from ARGFest-o-Con 2007.

Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through this link or via iTunes. Contact us at our special netcast email address, netcast@argnetcast.info with your tips, suggestions, concerns and submissions. Call us on the ARGNet voicemail at 630-274-5425.

Game News and General Discussion

• Meigeist has concluded, successfully according to most players. Hazel Grian, one of the PMs, was interviewed by BBC Radio. Next week the Meigeist PMs will be on the Netcast to answer your questions. Send them to netcast@argnetcast.info now!
• Deus City and tCotSA “merge” which really means they were 2 trailheads for the same game.
• Doom Skull/13 Crystal Skulls: is it over? Not quite. Jon wonders if we’ll ever see a curtain call for this one.
• World Without Oil will be launching April 30th. Whether or not it’s an ARG in the classical sense, it has generated a lot of buzz, with a multipage forum thread and big mentions at GDC and SXSW.
• We finally answer the question Caspian asked during the Festcast. What is the line between letting players shape the story and the PMs keeping control? Tell us what you think.
• The Wyoming Incident fizzles.
• Hacksaw seems to be a dark scifi story but no clue yet as to whether the creepy video is the start of an ARG. NOTE: We mention “videos” in the Netcast, but there is actually only one video at this time. This leads to talk about Nicko and Michael Anderson writing editorials on “dark ARGs” for ARGNet.
• Year Zero continues to cross into all kinds of media with the announcement of a movie in the works. The ARG’s websites continue to be updated, and the in-game forums are lively. Mike Borys ages well.
• Project Ashcroft seems to be back for part 4 in the guise of www.romxnce.net. We hope it’s better than parts 2 and 3.

Bored of ARGfest talk? Too bad, we’re not.

• Belated but still heartfelt thank-yous to Ariock and hmrpita, for planning and running, and catherwood and celina63, for assisting, the best FestQuest ever. Marie was rescued and enjoyed a very large beer while the teams ran around Fishermans Wharf collecting the ransom. We’re also quite fond of Kristen Rutherford’s voice talent. More thank-yous for rose, who did just about everything, and Brian Clark, who did everything rose didn’t do. We also loved Dave Tenenbaum’s timekeeping.
• Oh yeah, panels. We liked those too. The Lonelygirl15 panel was a big hit and a favorite of many. Videos of all the panels have been cleaned up by Ben Wochinski and uploaded to YouTube. Thanks, Ben! Sean is asking for help with transcription. More ARGNet articles are forthcoming. We also loved the swag museum.

From our Listeners

• We got our first voicemail from Cu Roi! We talk again about control of the game vs. gamejacking and the line between PM and player control. Jessica sets us straight on the meaning of Cu Roi’s nick.

One Last Note

Lisa Long from Mind Candy Design told Nicko at ARGfest that Perplex City Season 2 kicks off with a murder. Nicko is excited. There’s a teaser video up at www.perplexcitystories.com, which will launch April 1st.