Please people, relax! Quit taking things too seriously. Everyone has the right to their opinion, especially when publishing a talk show-type podcast.

But of course, I’m an unabashed ARGN fanboy. Especially that Jon Waite guy. He’s sexy.

4orty2wo has not “recreated” _The Beast_ in every game. In fact, in the past three years, have they ever done the same game model twice? There seems to be something different each time. Nothing in ILB was like LCP, and VPG was not _The Beast_ but we still enjoyed it. But I agree with the panel – 42 respects their audience.

And let us not forget Dave S’s great works. For those who prefer a more traditional _The Beast_ model, his grassroots efforts have brought many new kids into the ARGverse. He (and his teams) also have great respect for the players. Jas0n and Labfly did the same thing this fall with _Ny Takma_ and _Sammeeeees_. Maybe similar models but different deliveries. And good relationships with their player base. We, as players, felt comfortable trusting these PMs. That is what helps to make a good game. And that is why I was terribly disappointed with _TownshipHeights_ and will not trust Virtuquest enough to play any of their games again.

Now, I’m saying this as someone who did not see _The Game_ nor play _The Beast_; although I am familiar with the premise of both and use them to explain to friends & family why I’m answering strange phone calls or dragging my husband out into the desert to an old cemetery to take pictures.

We’re past the infant stage of ARGs and moving into the toddler years. Parents can relate to this analogy: The constant “no no” and “why” from both adults and their children; exploration; mistakes; poopy pants; the thrill of discovery; “ooooohhhh”; and such wonderful memories that can be kept in archives, videos, photos, but never “recreated”.

I, for one, appreciate this talk-show-chat group and look forward to agreeing & disagreeing with their opinions. Sometimes I want to join the conversation (even though it is days after the fact). And that makes a good net/podcast – it makes you think, have your own opinions, and get your own creative juices flowing. If it was just a fluff piece every week, would we still tune in? No way, too boring.

Hmmm, this turned out longer than I expected, maybe should have done an email instead

‘squeek’ (my personal catchphrase).

P.S. Jackie, you should say “ruh roh” this week. Jessica can say “blessings”. I’ll think about the others later.

Someone who wouldn’t mind speaking his/her mind even if the experts on the subject matter disagree? (For example, probably not me)

I’m just saying. if you have someone on the netcast that wrote some of those angry letters, it’d sure be hard to say “both sides” aren’t being accurately portrayed.

While I am likely biased for my previously writing for ARGNet (and ARGN before that), I have this to say:

1) You guys and gals on the panel are a little smug. But that’s not a bad thing. I listen to the netcast for the opinion, as I know I tend to get more fact-based stuff on the online-print-version (whatever that’s called… text?)

The point there, is that opinion does indeed involve offending some and bolstering others. Some will share that opinion and some will not.

Mind you, I do tend to think you guys (at least sound like you sometimes) take stuff too personally as you sound a little heated when talking about some of the notes… (and I understand it’s frusturating when people just “don’t get it” but still, they’re your readership…) But the point is that no one is forcing anyone to listen. If you don’t like the views of the netcasters, don’t listen!

2) In terms of the whole “authorities” thing. You know what? I’m going to say that, yes. THESE PEOPLE WHO WRITE FOR THIS SITE ARE AUTHORITIES ON ARGS. Do they know everything? No. Do they claim to know everything? No.

However, they know more than most lay-ARGers, and most have participated in more Behind-The-Scenes work, as puppetmasters, or as support for puppetmasters, or working directly for ARG companies/promotions/etc… that they know the ins and outs of the industry. ARGNet staff has more contact with the people producing the games you and i love (and hate) than most of you reading. That’s the deal. Journalists tend to get that inside info/contact more frequently.

Have they claimed to be superior human beings because of this? NO WAY. If they do, let me know, and I’ll personally smack them down

But seriously, I think they have the right to claim “Authority” in the subject. No one has reported on ARGs longer, more consistently, and with a true care to how the information is presented (quality, with respect to the work and readership) throughout both Jonathan Waite’s leadership as well as back when Steve Peters ran ARGN.com.

3) Finally, in terms of the difference (touched upon in #1) between the text version of ARGNet and the netcasts, I simply submit to you this:

Listen to ANY online publication’s netcast (that is done with more professionalism than someone’s personal blog), and you will find similar content, nine times out of ten. That is because the podcast/netcast format is generally more informal, more discussion-based (because of the format’s ability to allow that kind of immediate discussion), and therefore more open to opinion than other formats. I love this dichotomy between the more “news-based” text editions, and the more opinion-based audio edition.

I think everyone on staff will say (whether or not they thought it was their type of game or not) that PerplexCity was done well considering it was the first game of it’s type, scope and form. However, with that said, it’s kind of the “authorities’” duty to say what they would do differently, and what they found satisfying and not. They obviously liked the game, had many weeks of discussion (including a puzzle of the week) of the game, and it’s ups and downs. However, they felt this endgame was awesome for Rand0m, and badly performed by Mind Candy. They have a right to say that. I don’t think it’s dissing MC in general, just the way they did that one hint kinda leaky-thing…

Point being, industry standard (for gaming netcasts, at least) is that the format is generally the same: text is more news-based, unless listed as opinion, and audio casts (be you of camp ‘net’ or be you of camp ‘pod’) are more opinion and disussion oriented.

ARGNet has done this wonderfully.

My only complaints are the audio quality (although I know it’s simply that there’s really no budget for this type of thing, and that it’s very ad-hoc and volunteer-based, so it’s acceptable And that I never got a chance to participate prior to my departure.

I love you all (players and readers included), and lest we not forget, I was super-psyched about Deus City before it came out, and with the initial pre-game (as we all kind of were). So um… yeah. That.

Keep on keeping on, ARGNETCASTSTUFFZEN!

To make it official: I really really liked the PerplexCity ARG. God knows, my bank account didn’t but I rather enjoyed it.

As for Brackin’s full letter – did you hear them say how long it was? Also, before they could publish something like that on the ARGN site, perhaps they would need permission.

I for one am glad they are moving the cast to their own site, if nothing else to keep people from confusing opinions with news {however, how that could have been confused here, I never understood}.

I do guess I need to go back and re-listen however, since i was in the car listening to the netcast on headphones from my way too quiet laptop – I thought they said it was their opinions and they were not the authorities.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Babel
Note the pronunciations please.

Posted by: MannyReasons at February 19, 2007 4:55 PM