The Metaurchins and the Game They Played
Posted on | April 4, 2007 | 9 Comments
Ever since I discovered ARGs, I’ve spent more than a few moments lamenting that I wasn’t on board from the beginning. There’s a super-strong, rich history to this genre, and it makes me sad that I missed such a huge, ground-breaking chunk of it. I could almost kill myself for not paying attention and completely missing i love bees – I saw that trailer!!! I can’t remember what movie we subjected ourselves to in order to see it – it was obviously forgettably crappy – but I saw the trailer for Halo 2, and I missed the most vital part of it. I missed the game entirely. Sometimes I wake up at night and squirm over it.
I know that there will be lots of cool experiences and games to play, and that I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute to the community (I’m volunteering for a BUNCH of stuff, like the newsletter, and the database project, etc.), but I still wish I’d been perceptive enough to catch on to ILB when it was happening. ARGs are now very close to being well-known mainstream entertainment, and that’s great, but I would have liked to have known and played the historic games.
Anyway. Trying to “immerse” myself in the culture and language of ARGs, I’ve been putting a lot of time into reading through the history of past games, and I’m almost finished reading Dave Szulborski’s This Is Not A Game. And I ordered a copy of The Project MU Archives, because it’s a hugely important piece of history relating to independent (non-corporate/advertising) games.
Project MU, also known as Metacortechs, was an independent game based on The Matrix and put into play just before the release of Matrix: Revolutions in 2003. It was not sponsored by a corporation as a viral marketing campaign; rather, it was designed by a team of non-professional Puppetmasters who also happened to be fans of the Matrix universe. The original website is still in existence, and you can follow the trail of discovery in the unForums archives, if you’re interested.
Last year, the Metaurchins, as the Metacortechs players named themselves, put together a printed copy of the Metacortechs experience, complete with commentary from both PMs and players, photos, the rabbit hole and puzzle trail, character bios, and much more. They designed the print and page layouts themselves, put it all together, and they used Lulu as the POD vehicle to turn a virtual experience into a real-life artifact. The became available in November of last year, and of course I learned about it last month while hanging around the unFiction forums.
As a piece of ARG history, I had to have it. One of the elements of ARGs that draws me and fascinates me is the strong community that has formed around these ephemeral experiences. Although I’m still barely on the fringes, I can feel it – these are passionate people. And their passion is not about winning or dominating or being first or having the highest score in the game. No, their passion is collaboration, teamwork, problem solving, and reaching out to help even the most fictional characters. To the people of this community, nothing is unreal. And therefore, nothing is impossible.
Together, they create a compelling and awe-inspiring reality of their own.
As drawn to the community as I am, naturally I wanted to see this book for myself, this labor of love, a tangible representation of the Metaurchins’ accomplishments. The book arrived today.
It is gorgeous. Every line of it, every page, reflects on glossy paper the dedication this community has to its art. The Metaurchins’ attention to detail is as careful as that of the Puppetmasters themselves when they created a game. It’s almost a physical metaphor for ARGs. There’s an unspoken accord that whatever you give to the game will come back to you manyfold. The give and take between the PMs and the players, the community spirit and the teamwork, all of that and more, is captured in this book.
And, now that I’m finished gushing over it, I think I’ll go read it.
(X-Posted to my LJ and my MySpace, because I doubt anyone looks here… yet…)
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9 Responses to “The Metaurchins and the Game They Played”
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April 4th, 2007 @ 10:29 am
What a fantastic post to wake up to, today.
I’ve been thinking a bit lately on the two stories of ARGs – the story and the story of the story. When people play an ARG, both stories are documented but the story of the story is done so in the process of documenting the other. That’s why I’ve always loved about the MU book – it’s the first player created document of that story. It doesn’t go into it, fully, but it’s there in the pages and between the lines.
They did such a great job with it. The first time I saw the book, all I could say was “wow!” It’s been six months and it’s still hard to say more than that and you said it all so wonderfully.
April 4th, 2007 @ 7:17 pm
Wow, your post has left me completely speechless. Yanka’s goal of compiling the (online) MU book has always been to capture not the essence of the ARG, nor the essence of the genre, but the essence of player experience.
For me, Metacortechs was the game that introduced me to the ARG genre and the wonderful community of people on and around Unfiction, and it’s great to hear that we apparently had some sucess in capturing the amazing ride we all had and in portraying the enjoyment of the Metaurchins following the game and it’s characters.
Although we had always thought that releasing the book in print form would be an awesome thing to do, we never really considered it to be a realistic possibility until a couple of months ago (and it would never have happened if it weren’t for all the hard work that xnbomb put into preparing it), but we are so very glad it turned out the way it did, and I am also very glad to hear you are enjoying it!
April 4th, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Brooke: I know what you mean. I think this is one of the unique things about ARGs – that as players move through the story, they are also creating story, like Yeat’s dancer and her dance. Or Michael Ende’s “Neverending Story”. The only other type of game play that comes close to the same kind of experience, I suppose, is found in roleplaying games and the gaming groups that play them, but it’s not… quite… the same thing. I’ll find some way to describe what I mean eventually, if someone doesn’t beat me to it.
This phenomenon fascinates me, too, and it’s one of the many facets of ARGs that has really hooked me.
Daniel: I’m so glad you all were able to make the book a reality. It’s a joy to read. I’m not finished with it yet, but I stole a few precious moments at work to
devourread, and it’s just a stunning piece of work: the book, the game, the story, and the metastory.I meant what I said: In the three months I’ve been lurking around the ARG community, I have come to believe even more devoutly in the power of willing minds and hearts coming together to accomplish the improbably, even the impossible. (Would it be too geeky to add, “And that makes us mighty!” ??
October 29th, 2008 @ 12:30 pm
Well said.
February 25th, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Действительно интересный блог. Автор, не желаете ли его продать? Свяжитесь со мной – 7812один. Сергей.
April 3rd, 2009 @ 10:31 am
Hey, is there a section just for latest news
July 18th, 2009 @ 8:10 am
Ты как обычно радуешь нас своими лучшими фразами спасибо, беру!
August 3rd, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Ваша идея блестяща
October 18th, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
You have some great stuff on your blog. Your insight and expertise would be a welcome addition to our new community, i hope you will consider joining
and thanks for sharing!