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Emma online
Yesterday I was part of a jury at KHM Mechelen (and I am not gonna tell any outcomes as I know some of the students are reading this blog ;) )
One of the projects of the students was the Emma ARP game (am I saying it right) and we got a look into the scenes of the game.
I admit, I haven't followed the game that much, since, well, I think the whole Emma series sucks, and en plus, I don't have a TV.
I do remember some blogs posting about it, especially about being invited for the press conference which was held a little unluckily in the middle of the day.(Now I also remember that the bloggers complained about that, but heck they didn't complain about Microsoft doing the same, with the new Vista included. *It is so damn easy to break down everything...*)
I was nicely surprised
1) to see the stats of the sites. There are a lot of people participating (4626) ! And it is mainly their target audience. So hip hip huraah for the designers and developers.
2) to be introduced to the games as they are not a real ARP, but an easier variant. I like them. It is not die hard, but still something anybody might want to play. (if they have plenty of time that is)
3) to see the web of games that were developed, to see the different sites on paper, and get a grasp on how such a thing grows.
4) to see a sneak preview of the final game, and I think it will rock. So I advise you all (especially the bloggers with plenty of critics on the matter ;) ) to peep into the thing again.
Technorati Tags: arp, emma, game, khm, vrt
Posted on May 31, 2007
in linklove, randomness
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Comments (9)
Comments
Hey Ine - I totally agree it's much easier to break down stuff compared to doing it yourself. I do think there's quite a difference between the Emma and MSFT approach though (and yes I do work for MSFT etc etc).
The 'issue' with the Emma invite was more about how it was done in a clunky way, how bloggers were invited but had to motivate why they should be there, how the press conference was during office hours... and never about Emma not being worth to check out, nor for their reasons to include bloggers in this.
Posted by Kris Hoet | May 31, 2007 11:28 AMI think you mean ARG:
Posted by Pascal | May 31, 2007 11:40 AMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game
@Pascal: arg indeed.
Posted by Ine | May 31, 2007 11:51 AM@Kris: didn't mean to offend people. I think VRT has learned it lesson on the matter, and made indeed some mistakes. What bothers me a bit in the blogging world is how 'hard' or 'un-pronounced' people react.
I agree totally that Microsoft is showing an example how one can deal with bloggers.
But as Lichtgeraakt says: it is a very thin line when something gets accepted or not.
In the case of Emma: it was a pity that people focussed on the way how they got invited, rather than on the game itself.
Those were my 2cents, as unimportant as they are ;) .
Ine - no worries, I'm not offended at all, just didn't agree at first ;)
Looking at your comment, I do agree with that. They've done some mistakes but shown interest immediately that they wanted to learn and I can only applaud that. And I'm looking forward to their next moves.
Posted by Kris Hoet | May 31, 2007 12:36 PMI did comment on the game itself. And yeah, I feel offended :p Can't blame you though, I might have to stand corrected on some of the issues I have said, like them holding it during working hours when MS did the same thing. It was, like Kris said, the motivation that bothered me most. I had a good talk with Ludo on the subjects though.
Posted by Clopin | May 31, 2007 1:01 PMAll in all I don't think I have been hard. On the contrary, in my first post on the subject I think I was quite constructive.
I'm glad to see the points you noted at KHM, pointing in a good direction for their game, but this is not an ARG for me. Perhaps the endgame will change my mind, we'll see. I'll have a roundup on my feelings when it ends.
@clopin: I guess I started to think on the impact of such things. Ok, it is very effective, as I heard they really were busy with it and the won't make the same mistake again, but on the same hand the impact of such a post might make a project fail. Or influence people not to play it.
Posted by ine | May 31, 2007 6:45 PMOf course they have the advantage of putting th elink on their own site and thus blogging isn't so important, but in a way, I noticed, it is. That's why I remarked it.
Compare it to the famous 'lock' story where a company almost broke down because of the power of blogging.
The hardest comments were the reactions on these blogposts. Many people didn't react on the ARG aspect, but shared how they did not appreciated the television series.
What I can't understand is that a project with high visibility like this one, is handed out to students? Did they had to organize the whole ARG or did they assist?
If you look at the airtime the Emma series had and the press coverage the ARG press release received, I am not that impressed by 4626 participants. Pardon me.
I do share your appreciation for the work these students have done, but I believe our Public Broadcasting company could have done a lot more with this concept.
And for the record: I agree with Kris about the Microsoft compairison. And hey... Microsoft used to be the devil and because of their blog PR, even mac users like me think they are quite cool.
Posted by Pietel | June 1, 2007 10:25 AM@pietel:
-the students were supervised by a team, and assisted and probably did a bunch of the 'work'.
-and if they invented most of the stuff, why not? in the end aren't youngsters most aware of what is going on these days internetwise.
-as I don't have a tv, I have no clue how much coverage there was on tv. Still I believe that amount of players is high. It stays a game aimed at 'non-gamers'.
-as for Microsoft: I think I also mentioned already several times their approach seems one of the most successful in 'how to coop with bloggers'
Interesting for that matter is how this 'interaction' was the initiative of a few people within Microsoft, without ruling from above, and how it grew organically.
Actually I am not sure if they could have done a lot more... Of course they could have thrown more money on the matter, then get a call from the Flemish Minister of Media saying they are spending way too much money on useless stuff, and sofort.
Posted by ine | June 1, 2007 10:48 AMAlso it seemed as a 'try-out': 'put some students, on it, and a small team. Let's see if this works or not. If so, what will we do in the near future?' Something like that.
But maybe this reaches one of the makers that can comment ;)
I agree with you on the matter of transparency: I think if the makers would have involved in a transparent way, opened up a bit, they could have had more sympathy and thus buzz in bloggersland.
For me, it is just intriguing how this works.
Just like way back when when I was really intrigued to see a community grow and how they react and why.
Все!!! Бросаю работу - иду читать остальное! Уже бросил!!!
Posted by vepterorm | October 15, 2009 2:05 AM