#dodarg

Week four was all about play-testing and feedback. The play-testing was a lot more harder than I thought it was. Because our game required players to go out into Auckland CBD, most of the play-testers did not want to bother. As a result, we decided to make the game environment a whole lot smaller allowing players to play inside the studio only. Players played for about thirty minutes, and gave their feedback afterwards. 

Overal feedback:  They said they had enjoyed the game, and it was very different from the other ARG they had played. Also, they mentioned they enjoyed the intensity of it, as it had made the game a lot more competitive than they thought it would. Social media was a big thumbs up by them as they liked the website and the online clues as it made them feel more intrigued by the game and the clues given. However, they did complain about the clues as well. They did say that the clues were difficult to find and they would have preferred it if the clues were in more obvious places. “I didn’t really want to go on a whole researching spree just to find a website that is inactive (talking about Evelin’s personal Tumblr page which is inactive by her)”. 

With the play-testing, we had left it too last minute therefore with the feedback given, we could not do much about it but to change it in our heads. We had tried play-testing after but there was just not enough time, therefore we could get feedback about the game in whole. Next time we will have to work at a faster pace just so we can play-test preferably in week three, and not the last week. 

With this project being done and dusted, I have understood that alternate reality games are not really my kind of thing. What I mean by this is that developing a whole interactive game was exciting at the start, but I came to a realisation that there is a lot more to it than just ‘creating’ the game. 

When we were first introduced to this paper, I was very motivated to create the ARG, and therefore I became the leader of the team with Jenny Park. Everyone was sharing their ideas and getting into the fact that we had to design and create this game, not knowing how stressful and dragging this project would get. 

After the mid-semester break we were all still in holiday mood. It was very hard for us all to get back into the game as we were all wanting to just relax and work at our own slow pace. We all knew how slack we were getting as we realised that we did not do that much work but just research over the holidays.

Overall, I very much enjoyed working with my group as we all got along very well, even with our different personalities. Each member of the team had a different set of skills that contributed efficiently to the game. We all had different talents, set of ideas and interests, therefore using our creativity for this game was actually quite fun. The project was also a great way for students to get to know one another and also meet new friends too, which I appreciated too.

 Individual Contributions

As I mentioned before, I was one of the two group leaders for the team. For my role, I had to make sure I set each team member a task with a deadline. One problem with this was that I was not strict on the deadline and did not very much check up on everyone daily as I should have. 

I set myself the task to contribute to the storyline and also the social media clues. For the storyline, I had written the outlines of the plot, which were then elaborated by the members that were in charge of the storyline. They had specified every little detail, which made the background story very realistic and well structured. 

With the clues for social media, I had set up a Tumblr account of the main character the players are trying to find, Evelin Flood. Her personal Tumblr page is a clue therefore unfortunately I cannot share it. However, if you as the reader are willing to find the website, it is your job to research for the page yourself to get more of the hidden clues online. I also have set up an Instagram for her and managed the account (@evelinflood), which is where she will occasionally post pictures of clues about her location, or where the next clue will be for players to find in the real world.

 Key Learnings

I was introduced to what an ARG (alternate reality game) was. My own definition now for the term would be “a game following a storyline that combines the real world with technology for players to play” ([1] definition helped from Wikipedia, however changed). To fully understand what an ARG is, I had to do a lot of research where I came across websites that helped me comprehend how to create an ARG that is successful, which I posted in a few of my posts on Tumblr within the last two months. 

I learnt how to work under pressure in a big group, as well as managing them all. There were times of difficulty I do admit when plans did not work out to what they were supposed to, and when we had to extend deadlines because we were not happy with what we had, however we managed through it all and completed the game with no break downs. 

I had also learnt how to write a structured storyline that is able to turn into a game. In the past, I was so used to writing a full story but because I had to remind myself constantly that the story could not be too revealing, it was a bit of a challenge to leave some information out and at the same time for the readers to understand the story fully.  

Another major issue that I had to face as a leader and learnt from is to work on everyone’s time-management, organisational and communication skills, including myself. With such a complex storyline, it was difficult to focus on other parts of the ARG as we needed a complete storyline to do most of the work, apart from the designs of the clues and logo. Because we had spent so much time on bringing up ideas constantly, we lost a lot of time. 

Having all the members together at once was rare for our group, so as a result having to communicate with one another was always so difficult, even through Facebook messenger as chatting online did not send what we had in mind across clearly enough at times. 

We also learnt we should have play-tested a lot earlier as from the feedback we were given after the first few games played, we did not have enough time to put the feedback into use and play-test to new players again.

 What went well

Everyone in the group was very cooperative and supported one another’s ideas which I was happy about. As mentioned earlier, because of the different interests, talents and skills combined resulted in a great storyline with great ideas for the game to proceed. 

From the feedback we were given from the rest of the class from our presentation, most people said that our storyline was very intriguing and that they would love to actually play our game as it sounded very adventurous and fun. 

Therefore, overall I think our game was successful because of the reaction we got from everyone. Our website also turned out very impressive, and I am happy to have such talented people in our group. It was cool for the students and the lecturers to go through our website as we put in time, money and effort into it.

 Improvements for the future

In the future, we will develop the game further to make everything less complicated. What I mean by this is making the clues a little easier to find as we were given complaints from the feedback by the play-testers that the clues were too difficult to find. 

We also will communicate more with one another and put all our documents into one file online on google doc perhaps. With this, it will also help with our organisational and time-management skills as we will have all the documents we need with us at all times. 

Next time we will also spend more time thinking about different creative ways to send clues to our players, and stop over-thinking about the storyline as it is this that had taken up the majority of our time.

 References

Cults! An outline analysis

 Cults are everywhere. Some are mainstream and widely accepted. Others are isolationist and hide from examination at great expense. They are growing and flourishing. Some cause great suffering while others appear very helpful and beneficial. Which ever group it is, the ultimate end is their destruction when the Lord returns to claim His own.

 What is a cult?

1.         Generally, it is a group that is unorthodox, esoteric, and has a devotion to a person, object, or a set of new ideas.

New Teaching - has a new theology and doctrine.

Only True Teaching - often considers traditional religious systems to be apostate and it alone possesses the complete truth.

Strong Leadership - often an individual or small but powerful leadership group holds control of the group’s teachings and practices.

Asset Acquirement - often requires tithing and/or property transfer to the religious system.

Isolationist - to facilitate control over the members physically, intellectually, financially, and emotionally.

Controlling - exercises control over the members. Sometimes this is through fear, threatening loss of salvation if you leave the group. Sometimes through indoctrination.

Indoctrination - possesses methods to reinforce the cult’s beliefs and standards where opposing views are ridiculed and often misrepresented.

Apocalyptic - to give the members a future focus and philosophical purpose in avoiding the apocalypse or being delivered through it.

Experience - various practices including meditation, repetition of words and/or phrases, and ‘spiritual’ enlightenment with God are used as confirmation of their truth.

Depravation - sleep and food deprivation which weakens the will of the subject. This is uncommon, though practiced by more severe cults.

Persecution - predictions of being persecuted, often combined with claiming any opposing views demonstrated against them as a form of persecution.

2.         Many have non-verifiable belief systems.

For example, they would teach something that cannot be verified.

A space ship behind Hale-Bop comet

Or, that God, an alien, or angel appeared to the leader and gave him a revelation.

The members are seeded angels from another world, etc.

Often, the philosophy makes sense only if you adopt the full set of values and definitions that it teaches.

With this kind of belief, truth becomes unverifiable, internalized, and easily manipulated through the philosophical systems of its inventor.

3.        The Leader of a Cult

Often charismatic and is considered very special for varying reasons:

The cult leader has received special revelation from God.

The cult leader claims to be the incarnation of a deity, angel, or special messenger.

The cult leader claims to be appointed by God for a mission.

The cult leader claims to have special abilities.

The leader is often above reproach and is not to be denied or contradicted.

4.        Cult ethos

Usually seeks to do good works, otherwise no one would join them.

They are usually moral and possess a good standard of ethical teaching.

Many times the Bible is used or additional "scriptures" are penned.

The Bible, when used, is always distorted with private interpretations.

Many Cults recruit Jesus as one of their own and redefine him accordingly.

5.         Cult groups vary greatly.

From the ascetic to the promiscuous.

From esoteric knowledge to very simple teachings.

From the rich and powerful to the poor and weak.

Who is vulnerable to joining a cult?

Everyone is vulnerable - Rich, poor, educated, non-educated, old, young, previously religious, atheistic, etc.

General Profile of cult member (some or all of the following):

Disenchanted with conventional religious establishments.

Intellectually confused over religious and/or philosophical issues.

Sometimes disenchanted with society as a whole.

Has a need for encouragement and support.

Emotionally needful.

Needs a sense of purpose.

Financially needy.

Recruitment techniques

They find a need and fill it. One of the ways they do this is called...

"Love Bombing" - Constant positive affection in word and deed.

Sometimes there is a lot of physical contact like hugging, pats on the back, and touching.

Cult group members will lend emotional support to someone in need.

Help them in various ways...whatever is needed.

The person then becomes indebted to the cult.

Compliment them, reassure them, and make them the center of attention.

Many Cults use the influence of the Bible and/or mention Jesus as being one of their own; thereby adding validity to their system.

Why would someone join? The cult satisfies various needs:

Psychological - Someone could have a weak personality, easily lead.

Emotional - Someone could have recently suffered an emotional trauma.

Intellectual - Someone has questions that this group answers.

The cult gives them approval, acceptance, purpose, and a sense of belonging.

The cult is appealing for some reason. It could be . . .

Moral rigidity and purity.

Financial security.

How are they kept in the cult?

 Dependence - People often want to stay because the cult meets their psychological, intellectual, and spiritual needs.

Isolation - Outside contacts are reduced and more and more of the life of the member is built around the cult. 

It then becomes very easy to control and shape the member.

Cognitive Reconstruction (Brainwashing): Once the person is indoctrinated, their thinking processes are reconstructed to be consistent with the cult and to be submissive to its leaders. This facilitates control by the cult leader(s).

Substitution - The Cult and cult leaders often take the place of mother, father, priest, teacher, and healer. Often the member takes on the characteristics of a dependent child seeking to win the approval of the leader and or group.

Indebtedness - The member becomes indebted to the group emotionally, financially, etc.

Guilt - The person is told that to leave is to betray the leader, God, the group, etc. The person is told that to leave would mean to reject the love and help the group has given.

Threat - Threat of destruction by God for turning from the truth. Sometimes physical threat is used, though not often. Threat of missing the apocalypse, or being judged on judgment day, etc.

How do you get them out? The best thing is to try not to let them get trapped in the first place. If you are a Christian, then pray. But, to get a person out of a cult takes: Time, energy, and support. Teach them the truth. Give them a true replacement for their aberrant belief system. Show the cult group's philosophic inconsistencies. Study the group and learn its history seeking clues and information. Try and get them physically away from the cult group. Give them the support they need emotionally. Alleviate the threat that if they leave the group they are doomed or in danger. Generally, don't attack the leader of the group...that comes later. Converts often feel a loyalty and respect for the founder of the group. Confront them when needed. Hopefully, this basic outline will give you information to see how Cults work and how to avoid them. If you have someone who is lost in a cult, you need to pray and ask the Lord to remove them and give you the insight and tools needed. It can be a long and arduous task and can be discouraging, but God is faithful and will help you.  

 Reference: https://carm.org/cults-outline-analysis 

Examples for quotes

1.         The Ku Klux Klan The KKK is famous for their white robes, pointed hoods and their stance on white supremacy. Lost in this history is the fact that at its core the KKK is, or at least was, a religious sect of extremist Christians. Formed initially after the Civil War, the KKK once boasted nearly four million members. Their terror tactics and stance on blacks, Jews, Catholics and other minorities certainly didn’t win them any favors, but it was the fear tactics and murders which made them exceedingly dangerous. The anonymity of the clan was another contributing factor. Members could live in open society and participate robed and hidden if they desired. They clan lives on today, and while their influence has dwindled considerably they still remain a rather secretive and dangerous cult.

 2.         Aum Shinrikyo

This Japanese cult translates to the “Supreme Truth” and it was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. Under the cover of a yoga and meditation cult, this group was granted religious status and eventually became increasingly dangerous. In the decade that passed Asahara and his followers were accused of forced donations, fraud, and even murder. In 1995 the police began to take a serious look at Asahara and these accusations. So much so that Asahara ordered the release of sarin gas in the subway system hoping to distract the authorities. While the resulting fallout was devastating, the police did manage to capture Asahara and discovered a massive stockpile of weapons, explosives and even live captives. Among the materials the police discovered was enough poisonous gas to kill four million people, a Russian helicopter, drugs (including LSD), and chemical weapons like anthrax. Asahara was imprisoned and his cult disbanded, but some variation of his ideals lives on today in another cult, though the leader has distanced himself from this new sect. Reference: http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-shocking/10-of-the-most-dangerous-religious-cults/?view=all 

 YouTube Video: Deadliest Cults | SERIOUSLY STRANGE

I do not want to giveaway what we are doing with our ARG just yet, as the rest of the group still need to discuss about what we have in mind further, but all I can say is that the ideas we have are fantastic. In other words, we are basically almost finished and that our game is turning out very well. I have not really discussed on Tumblr what my role is, therefore I am now going to use this post to tell you a little bit about my role and what our ARG is. 

First and foremost, I will tell you about my role. Jenny and I are both the group leaders for our ARG. This means our role is to make sure everyone is on to their tasks, and that each member does have a task they must accomplish for the game. Whilst Jenny is focusing on managing the structure of the storyline, I am managing the social media accounts for the game and also the game designs. Everyone is doing a good job playing their part of the group, and I am pleased with where we are standing now for our ARG. Even if we are a little behind. But the reason why we are behind is because we have taken our time to get to know the game inside out, however I believe we will be finished by the deadline which is the most important.